The Sound Hidden in the Leaves
by ProKidneyThief
Summary: What would happen if Naruto and Kin met under different terms? Perhaps they could even become friends? Absurd you say? NAY! But yeah :  Kin x Naruto  No other pairings planned but who knows what might get pulled out the metaphoric hat :D
1. Chapter 1

**I am afraid that my Skills in summary writing are below average :)**

**BUT I will try... **

**SO what would happen if Naruto and Kin met under different terms? Perhaps they could even become friends! Absurd you say? NAY! I don't know what that was... but yeah :) Kin x Naruto**

**No other pairings planned but who knows what might get pulled out the metaphoric hat.**

**Hmmm I still need to come up with a name... something clever, to do with sound... and leaves? Um... I was originally going to call it 'The sound Hidden in the Leaves'... I may well stick to that... Yeah sod it.**

**OoOoO**

The rays of sunlight patted down on her small figure, she sat hugging her knees in a small crater that was created only minutes before, something blocked out the bright sun, she squinted at the silhouette... she could make out any features, this was the person who had saved her? She was terrified of him... why was he even saving her? To kill her himself?

She couldn't see another reason, a small whimper escaped her mouth as she hid her eyes in her knees, she quietly chastised herself for showing such shameful weakness... to cry in front of an enemy... she deserved death and nothing less. More tears flowed

"It's okay, it's dead" his voice was kind... she waited for the blow that would end her life, but it never came... after a few seconds she raised her head, creasing her eyes at the sudden sunlight, her eyes landed on the form of the giant adder not 15 foot from her, he really killed it.

"Hello?" her eyes snapped back to the silhouette that was waving a hand in front of her face

"Are you okay?"

"H-Hai..." She cringed at the sound of her own voice... broken, weak and strained from the crying.

"That's good" she could sense a smile trailing on his voice... but not the sadistic, or fake smiles she was used to... this seemed genuine, full of emotion... the hand again entered her line of sight making her jump slightly,

"Need a hand?" she eyed the hand carefully... she didn't trust this guy at all, he killed the snake but that didn't mean he wasn't an enemy. Slowly bringing her hands together she formed seals hidden from the boy's line of sight. Half a second later a log thudded to the ground where she had sat.

She looked into the clearing from the branch she now stood on, the boy didn't seem to make any attempt to chase after her, he didn't seem annoyed or scared... she almost felt guilty for leaving him without saying thank you... almost. Just before she took off into the foliage she threw a glance over her shoulder... _'Leaf nin...'_

Her hand ran down to check her weapons pouch... she muttered a silent curse... she'd lost the heaven scroll...

OoOoO

"Naruto!" A scream pierced the forest, scattering birds from nearby trees as two ninjas wondered through the bushes far below.

"Where is he... it's been almost twelve hours..." the pink haired girl threw a glance over her shoulder hoping for the blonde to jump into view.

"Would you just shut up Sakura! You're going to bring every enemy nin in the exam down on us!" the raven haired boy threw a scowl in her direction as he leaned heavily against a tree... she sighed, it had been almost two full days since Sasuke had had the curse mark placed on him and it was still causing him huge amounts of pain.

"We've only got two days left, we don't need to get attacked now!" he threw a clump of dirt toward her when she carried on screaming for the blonde team mate. Something in the distance...

"Sakura... Sasuke..." Quiet but unmistakable, the pair quickly snapped their heads to face its direction,

"NARUTOO-" A hand slipped over her mouth silencing her

"I said shut up! He'll be able to find us now!" he whispered viciously in her ear in a voice that promised suffering if she didn't listen...

"Sasuke... what's wrong with you" she struggled out of his grip and stepped back a few yards bringing her arms in front of her in defence

"It's that curse mark isn't it? It's acting up again..." she bit her lip as she thought of what they should do...

"Maybe we should open the scroll, that might get us help" she gave a fake smile hoping he caught her enthusiasm, only to wish she hadn't spoken, before she could react his hand clamped around her jaw in a death lock and forced her to look into his blazing Sharingan

"NO. All that will do is get us disqualified!" she felt tears well up in her eyes as he pulled his hand away and dangerously lowered his voice

"Listen to me Sakura. Do not open that scroll" just as his hand slipped from her face, the blonde skidded into the clearing

"Thank god I found you guys... It's such a mess out here, I swear there's a snake or ninja behind every freaking bush" he brought his hands toward the back of his neck in a signature pose before noticing how damp Sakura's cheeks were

"Hey.. What's wrong Sakura?" he made a slow jog toward the girl who smiled lightly and waved it off

"Where have to been Naruto... we were worried" he grinned and began to rummage in his weapons pouch

"I was busy... finding..." his smile grew as he found what he was looking for pulling it out quickly and holding it in a victorious stance

"THIS" both other ninja glanced at his open palm... the pink slightly awe struck

"how did you manage to find a heaven scroll?" the blonde grinned... he had been hoping the raven would ask

"Well, no biggie, I just took out a 20 foot adder then the girl I saved left it behind when she ran away" Sakura's jaw hit the floor... a 20 foot adder? The Uchiha gave little to no reaction though a small twitch of his eyebrow told Naruto that his words had had the desired effect...

'_Just how strong is Naruto getting! First he defeats Haku after I almost died... then he turned Zabuza, went toe to toe with that crazy Grass genin and Now fighting 20 foot snakes...'_ the boy only snatched the scroll and stalked into the forest without a word, both other genin only shared a glance before following him into the bracken.

OoOoO

Two of the three sound genin sat in the branches of a tree near the tower,

"Where is she? I fucking hate waiting..."

"Zaku... calm yourself... we need to be in clear mind if we are to defeat Sasuke"

"Why do we even need the scrolls! Once we kill Sasuke we can take his!"

"And if he doesn't have a earth scroll? We'll be left with less than 48 hours to collect one" the bandaged boy stood up and raised his fist in threat

"Fine fine, calm down... I still say kin should be here by now though" as if on cue the fragile girl landed at the base of the tree and quickly made her way toward the makeshift camp.

"Kin, it's about time... where's the earth scroll?" she ducked her head

"Kin, you didn't find an earth scroll! You only had one fucking job!" the bandaged boy again raised his fist, letting his sleeve fall around his elbow revealing a steel device around his wrist, His anger shook the forest as the readied his melody arm for attack.

"I-I... Dosu, there was a snake- I tried to fig-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP" he slammed the device into the tree truck, sending waves into the wood, making the wood explode out the back of the trunk, Kin's legs shook wildly beneath her as she felt the chakra rush past her, Dosu lowered his voice to barely a whisper

"Unless you want that to be your rib cage... you'll find another heaven scroll before night fall... or the head of the Uchiha" the girl nodded vigorously... taking almost all of her focus to keep on her feet

"If you fail again... I have no doubt that Lord Orochimaru will find no other use for you than his jutsu..." she paled

OoOoO

The small girl kicked off of a tree sending herself further into the canopy of the forest, from up here she had a much wider view of the forest as well as an immediate advantage should she be ambushed or attack someone. She sighed and shook her head, that was probably the only useful information shed gathered in all of her years in Oto... the system there was extremely biased against women, they were looked down upon so much, even Tayuya was! She could rip anyone apart she wanted, but the system had broke her, if it broke Tayuya how long would it be before she broke? She wasn't nearly as strong as the elder girl... Kin shook her head to get rid of the images of her only friend and pressed on into the canopy.

'_This isn't looking good... Dosu won't hesitate to demolish me if I don't get that scroll back... and with only 48 hours left' _she grunted to herself as she landed hard on a branch, bending her knees slightly to absorb the impact and using the momentum to propel herself back into the foliage, a few minutes passed before she judged it time to rest, sitting down on a branch she dug in her pack and pulled out a sealed scroll, adjusting the seal slightly a small amount of water ran down the water proof page, bringing the paper to her mouth she drank her fill before readjusting the seal and stopping the water. She brought her knees up and hugged them tightly for a few minutes feeling the stress of her current situation press down on her

"Kin-chan... don't look so sad" her eyes flashed open and her head snapped to look for the source of the voice...

'_Please no...'_ her eyes landed on a figure stood 12 yards away, her stomach fell... this wasn't good.

"Orochimaru Sama! I was just resting" she trembled slightly as she climbed to her feet and bowed respectfully before the sannin who only grinned at the waves of fear rippling from her.

"By any chance are you looking for a heaven scroll? Because I just happen to have one here" as he spoke he leaned his head back and began to regurgitate the scroll, he felt his lips tug into a smile when he saw the mild disgust on Kin's face flash to hope when she saw the scroll

"But nothing comes for free my dear..." Kin quickly lowered herself onto her knees and placed her forehead against the bark

"what do you wish of me Orochimaru Sama"

"Your mission with Dosu and Zaku has changed slightly" he spoke calmly and examined his finger nails

"Sasuke now has a curse mark, so I don't expect you to survive this mission, but if you do survive, you'll get this scroll, could you do that for me Kin-chan?"

"H-Hai.." the sannin smiled at the fear she gave off before melting into the wood.

'_How can we Kill the sharingan user now that he has a curse mark?.. This is impossible'_

OoOoO

The three leaf genin quietly leaped from tree to tree, with the heaven scroll inside Naruto's weapon pouch the y could finally finish this part of the exam. The pinkette stared at the back of Sasuke's head as she kicked off a tree, sending herself slightly higher into the branches, Naruto watched curiously, this wasn't one of Sakura's normal starry eyed stares... her eyes were full of concern and... worry?

"Sakura, are you okay?" the girl flinched at the sound of her name, snapping her head to his direction, a few seconds passed where Naruto saw her wrestling with a decision in her head.

"It's Sasuke" she slowed her pace enough so that she was in pace with Naruto

"He got beat up pretty bad by a Grass Genin a few days ago, he's been acting really off ever since" her eyes showed her concern but also slight deception

"There's nothing else?" The girl screamed in her head to tell him it was Orochimaru, her gut tightened whenever she thought about the man... she didn't want Naruto to worry needlessly, she smiled back,

"Nothing"

'_What is this pain... It's constantly building, burning growing... it's taking everything I have to resist it, if it goes on much longer I'll fall to it'_ Sasuke tightly grabbed his shoulder in an attempt to release some pain but flinched wildly when his hand touched the extremely sensitive skin, both Sakura and Naruto watched as he twitched wildly in mid air letting out a painful scream. Sakura's eyes widened in horror as the boy landed heavily against a branch. A crack echoed as his head hit hard against the bark. The now unconscious boy slipped carelessly from the branch hurtling toward the floor... a thin stream of purple chakra slowly encased his body as he hit the floor, kicking up a large amount of dust.

Sakura stared dumbly at the scene, her body not wanting to respond... did Sasuke just... die? A hand grabbed her shoulder and quickly shook her from the daze

"Sakura, what are you waiting for! You know medical ninjutsu right!" her head only nodded as Naruto scowled and shook her again

"Sakura! Get a hold of yourself, he's alive, can't you sense his chakra signal?" the girl focused for a second before letting a shaky breath out, he was still alive... even if barely. Both genin quickly made their way toward the ground, keeping an eye on the slowly clearing dust cloud, no movement was seen.

OoOoO

"Hey, Sakura, what's this weird bruise?" A few hour had passed since Sasuke fell from the canopy and he was still unconscious, the remaining leaf genin had released the seals on their tents and pitched them under a nearby fallen tree.

"He got it from that grass genin I mentioned" she still seemed insistent on keeping something hidden, Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly but didn't question further, a few minutes passed before either spoke again

OoOoO

Kin had been following the leaf genin for hours, keeping distance enough as to not be noticed, but time was running out, shed have to stall them if she would have time to kill Sasuke and get a scroll. She watched the girl slow slightly, she cursed under her breath. Had she been detected so easily?

She dropped back further to avoid detection, she squinted her eyes and stared at their lips... they were talking about an attack, a grass genin? Her focus was cut when the raven haired boy a few seconds ahead thudded hard against a branch, her eyes widened in shock as he slipped from the branch, heading for the floor... without really thinking she loosed a senbon needle with a trail of ninja wire behind it, the needle clipped straight through the boys shirt and tightened quickly, taking most of the momentum out of the fall. A smile graced her features, she hated violence...

OoOoO

"I wonder how that sound girl is getting on" Kin raised an eyebrow from her place in the bushes silently willing the blond to continue

"What?"

"The sound girl I saved, Just wonder if she's okay" the boys voice echoed in her head... he was the guy who saved her?

"Probably fine, why are you even worried about her?" the pink haired girl asked the question on Kin's mind

"She just looked really scared, I dunno"

"She ran away after the snake was dead right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Then she's obviously a coward." Kin visibly slumped in the bushes... the pink haired girl was right of course, but to hear it from someone who'd never even met her... she felt defeated

"Sakuraaaaaa don't be mean" Kin snapped her head up to stare at the boy through the leaves... no one had ever defended her.

"If she spent more time confronting danger, instead of running, she could probably be a good ninja" she flicked her hair in a superior fashion and stifled a laugh, Kin again felt defeated and silently begged the blonde to defend her again... seconds passed where nothing was said.

"There's a difference between running away and retreating, maybe she doesn't like violence" Kin nodded slightly from her spot feeling a small smile brush her cheeks

"Then she has no business being a ninja" The boy suddenly lurched to his feet

"You're so quick to judge people Sakura! What if she was a medic? Or hurt? Or one of her team mates was hurt? Don't jump to conclusions" The boy turned on his heel and stalked into the woods. Kin was astounded, he'd defended her... the other girl looked just as shocked from the brief outburst but quickly hid it.

"Fine! I'm going to bed! Have fun doing the night watch ALONE!" the girl yelled into the darkness before flopping onto a sleeping bag.

OoOoO

A few hours had passed since Naruto had wandered into the forest, since then he'd came back from his patrol and sat down by the fire, gently poking the flames he decided to try and roast a few of the fish they'd caught the previous day...

A rustle behind him.

He fell into a defensive stance and immediately stalked toward the source of the noise, kunai poised...

**OoOoO**

**Woooo long chapter one :) **

**Please review and stuff, Do not expect updates regularly :P probably every week or so...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Boom, Update. OKAY, let's see what happened**

**Oh, by the way. If you're sitting there going 'I'm sure I recognise this story' you probably do :P **

**My old account shut down for some reason, so I had to start over. Decided it was a good time to do a re-write :D**

**LAST TIME**

**Naruto killed a snake! Kin lost a scroll D: Naruto Gained a scroll! Sasuke fell out a tree, Sakura was like D: but Kin saved his life before he hit the floor! But right now, Naruto was patrolling the camp and just about to find Kin, OR WAS HE! **

**Let's find out...**

**OoOoO**

Kin watched from her hiding spot as the blond slowly approached the bush, kunai drawn. She narrowed her eyes in determination

'_Okay... here goes, take him down quick, then I'll have an open shot at Sasuke'_ the senbon needle sprung from the bush with no warning, she cursed silently when the boy exploded in a burst of smoke.

'_Shadow clone, Shit!'_ she quickly jumped from the bush and landed in a tree to her left just in time to see a very tired looking Uzumaki stumble from the mouth of the cave having received the memories of his clone. Again the blonde walked toward the suspicious bush after stretching out his legs a few times, she pinched the bridge of her nose as she thought about how to advance from here... One he was now aware there was an enemy, two that might be another shadow clone. She smiled as an idea formed in her head... even if the real Nin were inside the cave he'd still hear her bells ring, Genjutsu was the best step forward. She raised a senbon, a small bell dangling from it by a thin wire.

"What are you doing Sound-san?" she felt her heart thump in her ears as she quickly turned her body to face the source of the voice, right behind her. The blonde was crouched on a branch behind her, she saw only curiosity in his eyes... no anger, or fear.

Her memory rush back to what shed over heard the pink haired girl saying hours before

'_If she spent more time facing danger than running away, she'd probably make a good ninja'_ she gathered as much courage as she could muster and slowly began to raise her arm, the senbon still poised to throw... his eyes followed her hand, made no attempt to stop her, he know exactly what she was thinking of doing... tears stung at her eyes as she slowly lowered her arm again

'_I've failed... He'll kill me now, and if he doesn't Dosu and Zaku surely will...'_

"You're not a coward" his words stunned her as her legs shook wildly beneath her... falling to her knees she brought an arm to her face, wiping furiously at her eyes to hide the tears.

"Why..."

"Why wha-"

"WHY ARE YOU NICE TO ME!" the boy only sighed sadly at her question... she must have never had anyone be nice to her before...

"Because your eyes are the same" Kin felt her throat beginning to sting as she began to sob quietly

"Naruto!" a shout from the cave made the boy stand up to cast a curious glance in its direction

"Sakura... she must've heard you yelling" he looked at her again

"We... have extra fish at the cave if you wanna... join us?" she closed her eyes and wiped a stray tear before looking into the boys eyes, no ulterior motive seemed to be hidden behind his eyes...

"I... ye-... No, thank you, you wouldn't want me around for long" she ducked her head quickly and turned to take off into the forest when a rough hand slipped around her wrist, Her heart skipped as a beat as her mind rushed... the last time someone had grabbed her like this was... No! She wouldn't let it happen again! The girl turned quickly and struggled wildly against his grip,

Naruto stood in shock as the small girl shook her arms savagely in an attempt to get him off, the slight glisten of tears down her cheeks made his throat tighten, quickly he stepped forward and wrapped his other arm around her tightly. Resisting her as she shook wildly and took deep lungfuls of air in between sobs.

"sound-san, calm down I won't hurt you, I won't let anyone hurt you, just calm down... calm down" the boy lowered his voice to a whisper as the girl he was hugging slowly came back to her senses

"Kin..."

"What?"

"Kin, my name is Kin" she sensed the boy smile

"I'm Naruto... over in the cave is Sasuke, and that's Sakura just by the entrance" she flinched slightly at the mention of Sasuke. Why did it have to be his team mate... the first person who seemed to genuinely care about her... and his team mate was on her hit list.

The girl struggled slightly bringing her hands together under Naruto's grip to perform the necessary seals

-Substitution Jutsu-

A few seconds later Naruto sighed and dropped the log which had taken Kin's place, silently he decided not to tell Sakura or Sasuke about the encounter...

OoOoO

Less than 100 yards away Kin sat in a tree, wiping furiously at her eyes... why was she even crying? She cant remember the last time she'd cried... it'd been years. She sighed mentally and started chipping away at the branch she was sat on with her thumb nail... she often caught herself doing this when she was in deep thought, usually she was icy, strong willed... had the system in Oto finally broken her?

She sighed again and jumped toward the floor, resting her head against a tree root she slowly closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.

Several hours passed before she woke up, with something soft under her head, she sat up quickly out of instinct, already reaching for her kunai pouch. A small cluster of leaves rolled around moss scratched from nearby trees... a ninja pillow. She raised an eyebrow, she hadn't remembered making on the day before,. Her trail of thought was quickly cut off when a smell caught her nose, she whipped her head around quickly to see a roasted fish sitting on a small leaf, still warm, cant have been there long... next to it there was a small scroll, it took her a second to register, Heaven scroll. Her heart thumped as she quickly rolled backwards. This had to be a trap!

She held a defensive position for a few seconds, glancing into the forest for signs of attack... Nothing. Slowly she inched toward the scroll again, a quick glance around for signs of gen jutsu, then cautiously picked it up. A smile brushed her face as she turned to jump into the trees to see a small face carved into the wood. Two lines she assumed to be eyes, a wide grin, and three thin cuts that looked slightly like whiskers, another smile... no need to wonder who'd found her in the night. A quick shot of chakra to her legs and she bounded into the forest, quickly chewing on the slowly cooling fish.

OoOoO

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN, 'YOU LOST IT' " Sasuke was livid as he shouted at Naruto for the umpteenth time,

"Hurry up Fuck Head we're in the last 24 hours now" with that the raven haired boy took off into the branches without a second look. Sakura had sniffed out that something wasn't quite right however

"Naruto... is there something you're not telling us?"

"What? No!" The blonde quietly cursed himself for answering too quickly, her eyes narrowed

"I woke up in the night... I heard a yell, what was it?" the blondes eyes flashed

"I... stubbed my toe, that's all. Yeah, while I was checking the traps" he brought his hand up to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment, Sakura shook her head but didn't continue the line of questioning... a Very powerful chakra spike rolled through the forest,

"That's where Sasuke went" without another word the two genin shot into the branches desperately trying to catch up with Sasuke.

There he was... less than 30 seconds away... kneeling heavily on a branch grasping his neck in obvious pain, Sakura made a move toward his when a strangled cry exploded from him made her flinch back. Thick purple chakra oozed from between the cracks in his fingers slowly surrounding his body. The body gritted his teeth and growled out in pain collapsing to his stomach as red marks made their way across his face and under his clothes

"S-Sasuke?" the pink haired The girl slowly stuttered out as she raised an apprehensive hand to touch the thick purple sludge... just before she made contact, it seemed to retreat into Sasuke's shoulder... the boy quickly rose to his feet, leaning heavily against a tree. The red marks suddenly stopped moving across his body, covering just over half his face, the boy yelled out in pain as they changed colour into a deep black.

OoOoO

Kin had just landed in on a branch next to Zaku and Dosu, who acknowledged the scroll with a simple nod, a scream shook the forest... all three snapped their heads to its direction,

"Seems we found Sasuke" Dosu Grinned under his bandaged as Zaku smiled evilly, both crouched as if ready to jump into the trees when Kin spoke up

"Wait!" both boys glanced at her, slightly shocked by the volume of her voice

"Kin... you better have a good reason for this"

"Sasuke has a curse mark" she blurted out before either male could threaten her, both boys shared a glace of fear before wearily looking back at the small girl

"you're sure?"

"I heard it from Orochimaru-Sama himself" Dosu shook his head and looked at Zaku with a concerned face

"We don't have a choice" with that the three genin slowly made their way toward the steadily growing chakra spike.

A few minutes passed while the three bounced from tree to tree... the chakra signal was still steadily growing and showing no signs that it was about to stop.

"It would appear that Kin was correct" Dosu slowed his pace to a halt, the other two sound nins followed his lead as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, a sign he was in deep thought

"There's no reason in all of us dying" he thought out loud, he straightened jis back as a plan began to form in his head.

"When it becomes obvious that we don't stand a chance, even three on one. We'll need a distraction to get away" Zaku let a grin tug at his lips as he knew where this was headed.

OoOoO

"Someone's coming" both Naruto and Sakura flinched at the sound of Sasuke's voice

'_Suddenly so hollow'_ this couldn't be the same Sasuke... just couldn't be, he gave off a completely different aura... everything had changed, that look in his eye was terrifying.

"We can avoid them... you need to rest after... whatever the hell just happened" Naruto raised from his crouched position as he spoke.

"No" both other genin looked at Sasuke with concern and fear apparent

"They might have a heaven scroll" was the only thing the boy said before dashing off into the trees at a much greater speed than before.

OoOoO

Both male sound genin were grinning slightly when Sasuke appeared at the other side of the clearing, landing lightly at the edge

"Impressive, he found us" Zaku sneered at Sasuke who growled under his breath at the mockery

"You'll be lucky if you live to regret that" Sasuke then launched himself forward with a speed none of the sound genin had expected, he grinned as he felt the new power pulsate through his body, having already drawn a kunai he clashed with Zaku in seconds.

Dosu recovered from the shock of Sasuke's speed and quickly raised his melody arm for the attack, kin attacked from the other side loosing several senbon with bells loosely following behind them, both had attacked simultaneously, with Dosu on the left and Kin on the right... Sasuke couldn't defend as his hands were taken engaging Zaku, who grinned evilly, jumping backwards 12 foot just before the attacks landed, Kin's bells rang as the senbon thudded into the dirt beside Sasuke sending him into a slight daze, which allowed Dosu to attack him sending him off balance... Zaku then laughed manically and fired two huge gusts of wind from his air cannons which easily blew Sasuke off the ground and thudded heavily into a tree.

The three genin relaxed slightly when the dust settled and they saw Sasuke at the base of the tree with his head hung.

"hn hn hn ha ha aha ha haha" their eyes widened as Sasuke threw back his head laughing

'_No ones ever remained conscious after that combo...' _The three sound nin fell into guard positions Until Dosu narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"Kin. You know your duty" with that he turned around and jumped into the forest, Zaku smiled and followed him, leaving Kin to stand against an enraged Sasuke.

"THEY'RE LEAVING!" his voice erupted through the forest and crashed through kin faltering her guard slightly

OoOoO

Not far away Naruto and Sakura heard the yell and dashed quickly to follow it

"Naruto... that was no ordinary bruise.."

"you think!"

"no I mean... it was some kind of seal, he got it after being bitten by a man called Orochimaru" Naruto's eyes widened in shock... he'd heard that name before and it wasn't good.

"we need to hurry then.." with that said Naruto boosted the chakra to his legs and took off at higher speed leaving Sakura to follow slightly slower

When Naruto arrived he saw Sasuke... except he wasn't alone, the marks were now covering his entire body. There was a girl on the floor cowering in front of him, holding one arm over herself in a vain attempt to defend herself.

"how DARE you tell me you can't let me pass!" he grabbed her arm and pulled her to her knees before delivering a savage kick to her throat, she gambolled backwards holding her neck in pain edging backwards as fast as she could without climbing to her feet. He stalked towards her again, a quiet 'tat' behind him told Naruto that Sakura was catching up...

'_I have to do something!...'_ he jumped from the tree landing a few meters behind Sasuke, Kin's eyes flashed to him briefly...

"Naruto, it's about time you caught up..." he turned around, showing his vicious smile

"what are you doing Sasuke? She's... It's not right... she doesn't stand a cha-"

"no. She doesn't" he grinned

"doesn't that make it all the more fun? To play cat and mouse" He turned arouns to see Kin on all fours dragging an apparently damaged leg behind her, tears streaming down her face clawing her way into the forest.

"DID I SAY YOU COULD FUCKING MOVE" He dashed over to her, grabbing her hair he spat on her before throwing her into the clearing...

"Sasuke! Stop it!" Naruto ran in-between him and the girl and spread his arms in a show of protection, her eyes widened and she felt her heart skip a beat

'_Naruto... I might yet live!'_

"I won't let you hurt her!"

"Like you could stop me"

"I could try.."

Sasuke ran toward Naruto with his kunai tailing behind him narrow eyes showed the intent of his blade.

OoOoO

**Oooo I'm a bastard :) well I'm not really. But you know. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey Males and females of the Naruto loving community :) This may well be the second update in one day, Please don't expect updates to be this close together later on D: **

**I have Wednesdays off from college so I find myself with nothing to do all day, so here I am, typing... ANYWAY**

**Last time!**

**Wait, what happened? –Re reading!-**

**Aha! Naruto and Kin met again :P she substitutioned away D: Naruto gave her a fish (and a scroll) :D Zaku and Dosu ran away from Super Sasuke, he was like 'no wai' kin was like 'yes wai' and he was like 'NOO must kill yoo naow!' and kin was like D: but then Naruto showed up and was like 'thats well out of order' and here we are!**

**OoOoO**

Sasuke dashed quickly toward Naruto with his kunai trailing behind him, the desire to kill flashed in his eyes, the blonde quickly pulled out his own kunai and held it infront of him with both hands, when the blades clashed Naruto grunted in surprise at the strength Sasuke was using.

'_He never showed this kind of power in training... It have something to do with those markings'_

Sasuke only smirked as he vanished only to appear within the second behind Naruto, delivering a lightning fast kick to sweep the blonde off his feet, before he could even touch the floor a second kick had been delivered to his spine. A sickening crack sounded through the clearing as Sakura landed down on a branch, she watched as Naruto was tossed into a tree trunk like a pebble...

She found herself unable to speak, move or even think... Naruto had just been killed before her eyes... no one could survive a kick like that, and that crack... there was no way... she watched in horror as Sasuke walked into the dust cloud that had been kicked up by Naruto's impact, obviously to kill him, if he wasn't already dead.

OoOoO

Naruto bolted up right and glanced around in mild shock.

'_Where's the forest gone?' _He began to pull himself to his feet while he glanced around... a sewer? Like the one he often ran through in Konoha to escape trouble... but this one was huge, he couldn't even see the ceiling, the walls just seemed endless as he stared upwards.

"**Hn hn hn hn hn hn hn..."** Naruto snapped his head to face the direction of the sudden noise and froze... a gate... a huge gate, it went from wall to wall, easily over 40 foot, larger than the gates to the front of the city! He squinted into the blackness of the cage for a few seconds before a huge pair of blood red eyes flashed menacingly in the dark, he couldn't move, couldn't speak... this being... whatever it was had such a presence... it was literally crushing him with merely a stare.

"**It seems you've finally found me, Naruto-kun" **as the eyes blinked Naruto found himself freed from the crushing sensation and found his voice again

"Y-you know m-me?"

"**Yes... I've known you for 12 long years"**

"W-who a-are you?"

"**Straight to the point... as always" **the eyes were briefly joined by a huge set of grinning teeth before they again receded into the darkness

"**I am the Kyuubi"** Naruto's eyes flashed in fear as he quickly raised his shirt to check the seal

"How did you get out!" a rumbling laughter echoed out of the cage at this

"**You really don't know anything do you? This place is inside of you... you arrived here because you are in need of my help"**

"Sasuke?"

"**Exactly... hes trying to kill you, that female from Otogakure as well..."** the beast allowed itself a small smile as Naruto flinched...

"How do I stop him?" the boy lowered his head in defeat knowing he couldn't defeat Sasuke... especially now he had some crazy new strength

"**It's simple Naruto-Kun... Remove the seal and all my strength will flow into your system directly"** The boys face showed confusion at the great beasts words

"**This place represents your chakra coils... look at the water, it barely comes up to your ankle... with my chakra added these tunnels will be filled to capacity, Imagine the potential" **the beasts eyes flashed madly with the prospect of finally being freed

"H-How do I know I can trust you?"

"**At the moment Naruto-kun, You don't have a choice, unless we act quickly... you will cease to exist"**

The boy slowly reached out and ran a finger down the seal running his mind over the decision

"But... if I remove the seal, you'll be let out" The monster only narrowed his eyes at this

"**you would give up your own life to make sure I remain sealed?" **The boy didn't respond for a few seconds but slowly nodded. At this thick claws hammered down on the gate and the beast Growled and roared through the bars

"**STUPID HUMAN!" **A flick of the tail and a thin stream of blood ran through the cage doors and slowly surrounded Naruto

"**Remember you little shit, you owe me this one"**

OoOoO

The boy again bolted upright, his hazy vision slowly retuned to reveal Sasuke slowly approaching with a mad look in his eye, the black marks still apparent across his face and down his arms, seconds passed while Sasuke approached the blonde.

'**Hes trying to kill the female from Otogakure as well...' **the words of the demon echoed in his mind as he felt power coursing through his body... the small amount of strength the fox had given had made him so much stronger... the boy looked down at his hands to see his veins were being pushed to the surface of his skin by ever expanding muscles, finger nails were sharpening into claws... a low growl emanated from his throat as Sasuke launched a punch, before the raven could react a swift kick had sent him flying backwards out of the dust.

Sakura closed her eyes firmly as she heard a crack in the dust cloud... no doubt Sasuke had finished Naruto off now... a groan behind her made her look... Sasuke lying on the floor with Naruto rapidly approaching. The blonde jumped into the sky and landed heavily on Sasuke's elbows crushing the bones, the girl immediately span around to hide her eyes from the vicious scene. Sasuke yelled out in pain as his eyes rolled into his head and fell unconscious, seconds passed while the voice of the Kyuubi still rung In Naruto's head tempting him to finish the other ninja off...

'**hes a danger to you... to the girl, its not worth the risk. You know it'**

"shut UP!" Naruto grabbed his head in an attempt to shake the Influence the beast had... the voices slowly quietened as he used all of his strength to resist.. Blackness.. the boy suddenly felt his heart slow... sounds became faded...

"What's... going on?" the blonde slowly thudded to the ground, his eyes attempted to focus on something moving in front of him, he squinted... Kin... her lips are moving, no sound... blurry vision slowly gave way to darkness

'_Am I dying?'_

OoOoO

Kin watched as Naruto sprung out of the dust in what appeared to be super speed, she watched in fascination as he landed on Sasuke, immediately crushing the bones in his elbows before landing countless punches to the boys face. An angry contorted growl was always present... the pink haird girl landed on the other side of the clearing as the curse mark started to recede... she felt herself relax, Finally it seemed to be over. A tear threatened to escape as she felt the stress wash away for the first time in a few years.

'_No more crying damn it' _she took ina deep breath and ignored the sound of the squealing kunoichi from across the clearing... a quiet thud brought her from her thoughts, so glanced over her shoulder to see Naruto on the floor... they briefly locked eyes

"Naruto? A-are you okay?" his eyes dulled slightly... she could tell they were losing focus, her heart began to speed up

"Naruto, Naruto?" she tried to climb to her feet only to have her injured leg shake wildly underneath her, she thudded heavily into the dirt.

"PINKY! Stop looking stupid and help him!"

She slammed a fist into the dirt and dragged herself closer to the fallen boy, gritting her teeth to stop the tears, This was Naruto... he'd beaten the snake, he'd made her smile... he couldn't just fall, she hadn't even said thank you! Her resolve strengthened as she clawed into the dirt

"Hear that you Blonde idiot! You can't die yet!"

Sakura blinked her way out of the trance she was in, her squeals slowly quietened until she could think straight... the sound girl was right... she had to make sure Sasuke was okay. She dashed forward and skidded to a halt in front of him, falling to her knees and pulling out a bandage she began to wrap Sasuke's elbows only to find that the bones didn't seem to be damaged... she was sure that Naruto had crushed them.

"Not him! Save Naruto!" she screamed herself hoarse as she slowly edged closer, her voice barely understandable as it shook so wildly. Sakura glanced at the sound kunoichi and immediately felt pity for her... her leg was obviously badly damaged, screaming nonsense at her from a few meters away and slowly edging toward Naruto... quite frankly Sakura didn't care what happened to Naruto right now... what was he thinking attacking Sasuke like that? He could have ended his ninja career if he had damaged the bones! She sighed... she knew Naruto had a perfectly good reason... why did she even try t defend Sasuke right now? He was obviously... out of it, but it had to be that seal...

"I'm sorry, I need to make sure that Sasuke-Kun is okay first..." she turned her attention back to the object of her affection and produced a small level diagnostic jutsu and ran it over his arms and legs, ignoring the string of curses that were thrown at her from a few foot away, her memory teased her as she remembered landing on the branch just as Sasuke charged at Naruto... she had no idea what had happened, but she needed an explanation. She had heard Naruto's voice just before she landed but didn't catch what was said.. probably a taunt...

'_why would Sasuke attack Naruto? He MUST have deserved it'_ she shook her head... she couldn't even convince herself, she'd seen what Sasuke had done to him, that had been an attempt on his life! No excuses...

'_It must be that seal on his neck... it must be controlling him or something... this isn't Sasuke, it isn't!'_

Once she was sure Sasuke was in no real danger she stood up and approached the girl running the same justu over her body she hardly noticed the screams she was receiving, a small gasp escaped her mouth when she felt something grab her hair.

"Are you listening to me pinky! Forget about me! SAVE Naruto!" she looked at the sound kunoichis face who now had fire in her eyes

"you already said good bye to those pretty pink locks, want to lose a fucking eye!" Sakura glanced over her shoulder to see a sizable amount of her hair had been cut clean off... and say chunks on the floor and in the sound girls fist.

"SAVE THE BLONDE" Sakura then got pushed toward Naruto forcibly by the slightly smaller girl before she pulled herself closer and seemed to be... comforting him? She sighed to herself and began to run the same jutsu over Naruto as well...

Kin let a small smile out when the pink haired kunoichi focused her attention on Naruto, she followed his spine first to check for any damage from the kick, then his legs and the rest of his body... as it ran over his chest Sakura's expression faltered slightly . Her heart jumped into her throat.

'_She found something... he's not going to make it! Is it my fault!'_ Kin was about to fall apart when she noticed that the girls expression was not on of worry or sadness... just confusion. She then watched as the girl pulled his shirt up to reveal a mark... a deep red mark covering a large portion of his chest... almost the colour of blood. A thin spiral marking winding around until it hit his navel. Both flinched when a pulse of red light span around the spiral, he flinched in pain as the pulse appeared... wait... pain? He's alive?

She let herself smile as she clawed her way toward the boys head and gently spoke into his ears, the pinkette didn't seem to mind, or notice, she was obviously fascinated by the marking on Naruto's stomach.

"what is that?" she flinched, shed forgotten that there was anyone else there, she glanced at the sound nin who was resting on an elbow near Naruto's head and gesturing to the mark.

"It looks like some kind of seal... but it seems to be healing him, those bursts of red light are following his chakra coils, they're speeding up his cell growth if my diagnostic jutsu was right... I can only assume... cell growth take up a lot of chakra, there's only one person who's been able to do it before and she had to build up the chakra for years before she could"

"So you think that seal is storing chakra?"

"Maybe... but a chakra seal is slightly different to this, we use them on training weights... this looks more like containment than storage" both kunoichi remained silent as they continued to stare at the seal.

OoOoO

_12 hours to go_

Naruto felt a twinge on his leg, slapping it lightly

'_stupid bugs...'_ another twinge, on his face this time, he raised his palm and prepared to slap it away but felt something soft grab it, he frowned slightly, tried to open his eyes

"too bright" he muttered as he raised his other hand and tapped his cheek... he could just about fee it, a muffled noise to his right, as if he were under water, suddenly his cheek began to feel the touch of his rough fingers...

'_I can feel'_ he grinned, but immediately wished he couldn't, as pain flooded through his limbs, he bolted up right and opened his eyes... the sudden exposure made him yell and tried to cver them with his hands, bringing the soft thing toward his face. He felt a tap on the head and glanced to his right to see Sakura sitting there trying to tie a bandage around his wrist, he smiled, she was clearly annoyed.

"ohayo Sakura" he didn't recognise the sound of his own voice. Still muffled, she spoke but he couldn't make anything out...

'**There's no use you little fuck'**

'K-kyuubi?'

'**Who were you expecting the fucking Easter bunny?'**

'H-how, what... happened?'

'**It takes a lot of chakra to bring people back from the edge of death, I guess I used so much that a link was made'**

'You can talk to me?'

'**Id have thought that was obvious'**

'Great...'

'**What was that?'**

'Nothing...'

**Your damn right nothing.'**

"Naruto? Can you hear me?" he barely managed to understand through the thick buzz that was present.

"Hai... where's Kin?" the blonde glanced around the tent and then at Sakura who was clearly confused

"The sound girl" he added quickly

"Oh, her, she left a while ago, to find her team I suppose"

"That's good, was she okay?"

"Not really, badly injured leg, I'd be surprised if she were still alive right now"

"Then why did you let her go!"

"I didn't! She wanted to, something about not wanting to be around Sasuke" Naruto grimaced... he'd almost forgotten what Sasuke had done to her.

"Good riddance if you ask me, how dare she talk about Sasuke like that?" Naruto sat silently for a second, glancing around the tent again to see if Sakura was lying, he glanced outside the tent o see a heaven scroll sitting on a tree stump just outside.

"She was a nice person"

"She was an enemy! Probably would have cut our throats if she stuck around any longer"

"She wasn't an enemy!"

"Oh really? Can you prove it!"

"YES!" he clumsily climbed to his feet and stumbled toward the entrance"

"What, you're going after her?"

"If she was an enemy, would she have left this behind?" he flashed her the scroll before sitting down... anger underlined his tone.

OoOoO

The female sound nin stumbled through the forest, slowly making her way toward the tower... only praying that her team had found an extra heaven scroll... and hoped that wouldn't be to annoyed that she had 'lost' their other one.

"Hello there Kin." She faltered slightly in her footing and collapsed onto the floor wincing in pain

"Oh Kin, how unfortunate" the snake sannin made no effort to help her, just watched from his position standing on a tree branch

"Orochimaru-samma, I'm sorry we failed you, the cursed seal was to strong"

"Oh come now child, you didn't think I expected you to win did you?" he grinned inwardly as he threw a heaven scroll at her

"In fact I'm more than surprised you survived at all" Kin shuddered at what he implied and scrambled after the scroll before it rolled off the branch

"Unfortunately Kin, your use for me has all but dried up, Dosu and Zaku as well" he watched her body for any hint of fear and grinned at the result

"Of course I'm a reasonable man, I always give my people chances to redeem themselves"

"Anything Orochimaru-samma"

"Anything my dear? You should really listen to what I have to say before you agree" he smiled sweetly at her

"There's a very particular jutsu I need to perform to defeat the third, Impure resurrection. Maybe you've heard of it?" his smile widened at her fear

"Yes Kin, you Zaku and Dosu will be used as the sacrifices, they have you to thank"

Kin felt tears threatening to escape again but fought back viciously, she stood up wincing slightly at the pain and jumped into the branches landing painfully

"Oh kin, do try and hurry... you wouldn't want Zaku and Dosu to get worried would you? Oh and be a peach and tell them who they have thank for the honour of taking down the third"

Kin crushed her eyes together firmly trying to keep the tears from escaping, she had no idea what Zaku and Dosu would do when they found out she was responsible...

OoOoO

**Hmmm... Should I upload this now? Or save it for another day? Now or later... now or later... Now...**

**Or later...**

**Now. May aswell.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey Maties! I'm gunna jump straight into it today**

**Last time!**

**Sasuke was like 'Naruto your such a dick' and was kicking the shit out of him, then Naruto was like 'OWWWW, wait, whats this fox?' then Kyuubi was like 'I'm trickin ya dude' then Naruto was like 'POWPOWPOW' to Sasuke's face! Then Naruto was like 'maybe I'll sleep a while' then he woke up! And Kyuubi was like 'Hi, we can chat in your head now' Oh and Kin met with Orochimaru who was all 'kin you're a tool' and she was like D: and NOW Kin Dosu and Zaku are all gonna get used in Impure resurrection... shame =[**

**ONWARD!**

**OoOoO**

A grunt sounded through the trees as kin landed hard on her injured leg, Should she run away? She wasn't sure... it didn't sound like a good idea, but then again anything at this moment would be better than running into her team mates. She sighed and carried on her journey toward Dosu and Zaku's chakra signals, she knew she wouldn't have the courage to run, if Orochimaru caught her trying to escape then he'd give her a fate much worse than the impure resurrection... were there things worse than being sacrificed?

Of course there were, she shook her head at the stupidity of the question... there is always something worse... always someone in a worse situation... maybe... death is the answer then? She shook the thoughts from her head before they had a chance to become an idea.

'_Sure... I'm going to die, doesn't that mean I'm supposed to live life to the max?'_ she forced a smile, she knew the thoughts were hollow, but they still took the weight of the situation off, even if only slightly. The tower suddenly came into view... not long until she met with Zaku and Dosu now. The ever present knot in her stomach tightened at the thought.

'_What will they do to me? They will blame me, obviously... they can't kill me... but they can make me even more miserable...'_ the knot began to ache as she neared the tower...

'_Maybe I'll see Naruto again..'_ to her surprise at the thought of the blonde the knot loosened slightly... Maybe she would find a ray of fun in her last month...

OoOoO

"W..ke..p" The blonde opened his eyes weakly, blinking them into focus slowly... the blurry image slowly took on the form of Sakura after a few seconds, obviously concerned. He stood slowly as he brushed Sakura's hand from her shoulder ignoring the hand she held out to help him up.

"We'd be there by now if you didn't need to rest every few hours" the raven haired boy had been extra aggressive after he had woken up... especially toward Naruto. Sakura had of course picked up on it but said nothing

"...come on Naruto, we have to get moving, we don't have long left" the girl acted guilty, a neutral party, like she was sorry for how Sasuke was acting. He could tell she was trying to build a bridge between the 2 team mates... she didn't seem to accept that after the exam the two would just not get on...

'_Doesn't she get it? He tried to kill me!'_

'_**She can't accept that. Her feelings for the Uchiha cloud her judgement'**_the beast mused from within its cage

'_Should I tell her what he did to kin?'_

'_**You're trying to win her over... why?'**_

'_She's my friend... she should understand why I had to fight back'_

'_**Don't be stupid, while you're at it why not tell her you're a Jinjuriki?'**_the boy sighed... the beast must be right, she'd never listen to him, she'd always choose Sasuke over him

'_**That's right Naruto... shed blame you, you know that, you can't tell her... you'd be better off cutting ties with this one, humans are a disgusting race'**_ the blonde sighed outwardly and simply jumped into the trees ignoring Sakura's statement completely

"Baka... come on Sakura, we have to keep up with him, make sure he doesn't get himself killed like the twat he is" the girl shot a quick glare at Sasuke but said nothing, quickly taking into the trees

"Do you think Naruto's annoyed at us?"

"Hn."

"Sasuke.. Come on, he's our team mate" he sighed

"I think he knows he's weak"

"He's stronger than me..."

"That doesn't make him strong, just stronger than you" the girl shot a look at Sasuke who ignored it

"Should I ask him what's bothering him?" the Uchiha didn't respond, she sighed and kicked off from the branch harder than before, slowly closing the gap between herself and Naruto

"Naruto, can we talk?" the blonde didn't respond

"What's bothering you?"

'_Isn't it obvious?'_ the girl sighed to herself... it was Sasuke, she knew the two didn't get on, but to openly attack each other with that much intent... was scary.

"You're still a member of team 7 Naruto... we don't blame you for what happened in the clearing" she tried to smile

'_What! Blame me! He attacked me! He beat Kin to a bloody pulp!'_

'_**Calm yourself Naruto... don't let her know she's gotten to you, she's obviously probing for weakness'**_

'_Hai...' _the boy responded robotically to the Kyuubi which had been whispering in his ear all day and night about Sakura's intentions... he was starting to agree, she didn't care about him, no one did. Why should he care about them?

'_**You don't have to care about them Naruto-kun... you don't have to accept them you know... it would be nice wouldn't it? A world without hurt...'**_

'_Ill never use your power to hurt those around me...'_

'_**I said nothing of the sort kit... That was your Idea, not mine.'**_ with a quick burst of chakra Naruto launched himself further ahead into the trees, leaving Sakura trailing behind.

'_I had no idea Naruto had chakra control like that...'_ her face dropped... obviously Naruto didn't want to talk about it... had she said something wrong? She didn't think so...

The Kyuubi was a beast as old as the ninja world... being alive for that long... it must have a vast knowledge... that could only make it right? Couldn't it? Unknown to Naruto the beast was grinning within the bowels of the cage, its plan was working perfectly...

**There is only one thing which could stop him from releasing the seal...**

OoOoO

Kin arrived at the tree where she had met with Zaku and Dosu the day before, both boys heard her climbing the tree and reached for their weapons, both seemed tense. As she landed they fell into fighting stances, only to relax slightly when they realised it was Kin

"Kin? You're... alive?" Zaku looked at her confused

"How? The Uchiha was using a curse seal" Dosu let his head loll slightly showing his confusion

"His team mates arrived a few minutes after you two left... they stopped him" the boys looked at each other before looking back to Kin with narrowed eyes.

"you still have the scroll?" Dosu's voice was suddenly rough, her hand drifted to her weapons pouch and pulled out the scroll Orochimaru had given her, she gently passed it to Zaku who nodded to Dosu. Both relaxed slightly before they turned to face the tower

"Dosu... Zaku" Both boys looked at her

"Orochimaru is going to use us in his jutsu" she said so quietly only a sound nin could have picked up on it, both boys felt their stomachs jump into their mouth, Dosu managed to keep his composure with only a slight widening of his eyes, while Zaku slipped to his knees and heaved the contents of his stomach out

"...why, we have been nothing but faithful to him" Dosu stared at her with fearful eyes, praying it was some kind of joke

"we failed to kill the Uchiha" she paused taking a deep breath " your retreat was a act of cowardice and my escape was a show of weakness... he said he don't deserve to exist" she felt Dosu's Rage building, Zaku was in no such state, his mind seemed to have shut down, just kneeling there staring at the branch covered in vomit

"Bitch! There's something you're not telling me!" Dosu disappeared and reappeared behind her with a kunai to her throat and a hand on her belt

"Tell me now!" She began to cry, one arm desperately trying to pull the kunai away from her neck the other holding up her trousers

"I wouldn't do that Dosu-kun..." His hands immediately fell to his sides, Kin collapsed o the floor holding her arms and weeping into herself.

"Orochimaru" There was a slight edge to his voice...

"We have done nothing but serve you, how can you cast us aside!" Both Zaku and Kin were completely destroyed... their minds temporarily shut down, he stood alone

"You will hold your tongue!" the sudden rise in killing intent sent Dosu to his knees... he felt suffocated

"correct you have served me, but to what end? You failed to destroy the Uchiha and failed to kill the vessel!" Dosu was shaken to his core, the words didn't even make it through... he was experiencing his own death before his eyes to this... demon Otokage.

"Pick yourself up Dosu" the killer intent dropped as Orochimaru broke eye contact

"remember why you serve me, and you will be honoured to sacrifice yourself for this cause"

"hai Orochimaru-sama" he voiced robotically

"Oh, and one more thing. You owe your current predicament to one of your team mates, have fun deciding who... don't kill them, or I will make sure that after your death you get no further than the 9th circle in hell" Dosu's eyes shot to Kin at the revelation of the new information, fury building all he could say was

"No promises" Orochimaru smiled at the boys intent but quickly stifled it

"there are worse punishments than death Dosu. If that girl isn't alive at the final exam, you will discover them for yourself" Dosu bowed slightly before Orochimaru disappeared into the bark once again...

Dosu was shaking with anger as he stepped over Kin's weeping body,

"I may have been forbidden from killing you, bitch" He spoke through gritted teeth having to physically hold himself back from destroying her

"But I will find another way to destroy you Kin, when your fully aware what's going on, I will make you wish you were dead a thousand times over" his suddenly calm voice was more ominous than his rage, Zaku was beginning to pick himself up, though still woozy

"did I- hear that right..." he leaned against a tree trunk to steady himself and had his other palm cradling his stomach

"we have Kin to blame" Zaku glared at the girl

"what are we going to do?"

"punish her, obviously" Zaku felt his lips curl

"we'll have to wait till she's recovered, if we want to affect her as much as possible"

"I can wait for that" Dosu felt the knot in his stomach loosen slightly. Oh yes, this was going to be a fun send off...

OoOoO

Naruto touched down outside the tower, they had successfully evaded all the genin teams positioned around the tower in ambush, Sakura touched down a few seconds behind, followed by a winded Sasuke. Sakura immediately put an arm around his waist and felt him put his weight on her as she helped him through the double doors.

They stood in the bare room for a few minutes staring at an inscription on the wall

"It doesn't seem to make sense" Sakura stated letting Sasuke sit down, still staring at the inscription she didn't notice Naruto pulling out the scrolls, until there was a burst of smoke to her right, she fel into a defensive stance only to see Iruka step out of the smoke with a smile

"It's about time you guys, you barely made it" he pulled out a stop watch and clicked it

"Heh, by no means a record but you've passed, congratulations" his smile faded slightly when he sensed the tense atmosphere in the room. He glanced at Naruto who would usually be jumping off the walls and grimaced slightly to note he was standing arms folded.

"did I miss something?"

"No Iruka-sensei" Naruto's blank tone told him not to get involved

"Oh... okay, well anyway. As a chunnin myself it's my duty to explain to you the next step on the road to becoming a chunnin" he raised his hand to gesture to the inscription

"As you may have realised this tablet doesn't make much sense, Put simply it's saying if your weak in knowledge and tactical planning, then you need to go out of your way to train yourself up to do some quick thinking. Whereas if your weakness lies with your physical strength, you need to train your body hard every day to improve it, these are the traits which define a chunnin" his hand ran to the back of his head as he laughed nervously

"Now then, if you'd follow me there's an important notice from lord Hokage that all participants of the final exam need to hear" with that Iruka turned around and walked away, the 3 genin quietly followed.

OoOoO

Kin was staring at the board that was spelling out everyone's fate, Zaku had been defeated by some creepy bug guy, Dosu was staring daggers at her from a few foot away after demolishing some chubby leaf kid... damn these pre lims, why did the Hokage decide to cut the number in the finals... it wasn't fair, she'd never make it... and it was her last chance to impress Orochimaru, without a place in the final she was resigning herself to death

The screen beeped

Hinata Hyuuga – Sakura Haruno

The sound girl glanced across the stadium to see the pinkette flinch slightly before heading down the steps...

'_watch the match, calm down... breath deep'_ she kept repeating herself in her head, desperately trying to keep her cool. She closed her eyes and gently massaged her temples trying to clear her headache. There was a scream that broke through the stadium and she snapped open her eyes to see blood on the floor, the Hyuuga girl was on one knee grasping her chest coughing blood, Sakura was stumbling backwards very pale indeed, dropping a bloody kunai before collapsing

The proctor looked at both before shouting

"Draw!"

Kin closed her eyes, but could hear the screen clicking through all the names, it beeped and she glanced up.

Kin Tsuchi – Naruto Uzumaki

Her eyes shot over to the blonde who was staring back at her from across the room, both stepped down into the stadium and took up their places facing each other. She fell into a fighting position with a senbon between each finger, she was startled to see him not fall into a fighting stance but held one hand behind his head, his eyes were searching the floor... she could see he wasn't happy about this match up either

"how's your leg?" the concern in his voice made her flinch

"It's fine, nothing to hold back bout" she couldn't see his eyes anymore, his face was facing down looking at the floor

'_what happened in the forest? He seems so different'_

"Proctor I withdraw" Kin's mouth fell open, the senbon slipped from her hands.

"what?"

"due to the withdrawal of Naruto Uzumaki victory goes to Kin Tsu-"

"Wait!" Kin shouted at the sickly man

"Naruto! What are you doing! Fight me!"

"No... your legs still injured after what Sasuke did to you" Sakura shook her head in the stands, he had told her what Sasuke did earlier that day, but she hadn't believed him

"NO! It's fine" she dashed forward and sent a kick to Naruto's chest, he fell backwards and skidded, she winced at the pain it caused but tried not to let it show, in the stands Sakura was gripping the bars firmly making her knuckles white, Kaksahi placed a hand on her shoulder told her not to get involved.

"see? It still hurts, doesn't it" he lifted his head and showed that he was smiling, Kin fell to her knees

"Why are you nice to me" she clawed at the dirt where Gaara had hit the floor after Lee's Lotus.

"WHY!" she lashed out with her senbon pinning his jacket to the wall, walking toward him with tears flowing down her cheeks

"I've done nothing for you, you don't know me! You don't need to protect me!" she slapped him across the face

"I'm not weak!" another slap

"Why won't you fight!" as she stepped into slap again she placed her weight on the injured leg, which shook slightly, falling forward she grabbed onto him and clutched his jacket, crying into it. Naruto moved the arm that wasn't pinned to the wall around to her back and hugged her until she stopped crying

"Proctor I also withdraw" she shouted from his jacket

He frowned slightly before stepping into the centre of the arena and shouting

"Draw"

OoOoO

"I'm disappointed Kin. But what you do with your last month is up to you I suppose" Orochimaru was leaning against the wall in his disguise, he glanced over at Dosu

"as is what you do with your last month, try not to get in each other's way though. A month isn't a very long time after all" he grinned at the two genin who didn't seem to care what he said anymore.

"hai" was the only response he got

Whereas across the room Kin watched as Naruto got bopped on the head by the pinkette who seemed to be annoyed.

"Naruto you idiot! That was more or less a free pass into the final!" Sakura was livid, how could he throw away a perfect opportunity to be a chunnin because of some sound chick? Kakashi watched from a few foot away and smiled knowingly.

'_Naruto, I wouldn't have thought it possible. But you seem to have found something there'_

He made an eye smile and continued his line of thought that only Naruto could make something blossom between two enemy villages

OoOoO

**Ooaoo, Quite a lot happened there. **

**Want to say, the urge to make this fic have Tayuya in it is quite large... But I'm awful when it comes to multiple romances at once... I'm gunna say Tayuya will be in it, but probably not as a romance character, THIS REMAINS A KIN X NARUTO**


	5. Chapter 5

**Good hello! Its Tuesday, fine day it is too... I'm just gunna say Thanks maties :D Lots of faves and stuff, love the reviews. BUT I'm just gonna say this now, Tayuya isn't going to be a romantic character. Already said it I suck at writing Harems. Plus this story is just as much about the missions and stuff than JUST the pairing. If I did a harem I think I'd lose focus.**

**ANYWAY with that said: Last time!**

**Kin met up with Dosu and Zaku again :D they was like 'omg you alive!' but then was like 'no waiii we gon die' then Orochimaru was like 'dont be hurting kin dude' The Dosu was like 'UM make me' then Orochimaru was like 'OOO no you didn't!' so now Dosu's pissed. But cant kill Kin. ALSO Dosu got through to the final round :o Zaku did not, nor did Naruto OR Kin, or Sakura or Hinata :) .. wow I at this rate it'll only be Sasuke and Gaara :D **

**OoOoO**

Kin basked in the warmth of the sun, it wasn't very often she got to relax like this in Oto. With most of their bases being underground the inhabitants rarely got to go outside, aside from during missions. The hidden leaf village was much more... alive, there was always something going on. A market, a festival. It was always busy, people didn't notice her, they simply didn't have time. Everyone was so busy busting round they didn't seem to notice one extra girl let alone her headband.

"Fuck off demon brat!" a sudden silence seemed to rush through the crowd at the yells, all turned in unison, most with a look of disgust on their face.

"I don't want your crappy Kunai anyway! Hahaha!" a boy sprung out of the shop as fast as lightning and disappeared into the crowd with the shop owner losing sight of him almost immediately.

"Damn brat..."

_Was that... Naruto?_

"Can I help you miss?" the voice shattered her thoughts quickly,

"Uh, no thank you" she gave a quick bow to the shop owner before walking slowly in the direction the boy had ran in.

_I'm sure that was Naruto, flash of yellow and orange, who else could it be really?_ She felt a small smile playing around her lips as she cast her thoughts back to the last time the two had seen each other, back in the Prelims... he seemed to care about her. He was willing to put off being a Chuunin for her... she'd never had someone show that kind of care for her before. Was that the reason why he was plaguing her mind? Every since shed woken up he'd been on her mind almost nonstop...

Slowly Kin made her way through the thick crowd and began to walk down the streets in the direction the orange clad boy had taken off in. _Maybe it was Naruto? It'd be nice to see him again..._

"Hey there" Kin turned her head to the new voice, a genin from the leaf village, brown hair a small dog sitting in his hood. She eyed the two nervously... _these guys can't be trusted_, she gritted her teeth as she tried to sound confident

"What do you want, dog boy" the boys face faltered slightly before a grin crossed it

"You know I don't hear that enough, specially from cuties like yourself" he took a few steps forward throwing an arm around her shoulder

"Kiba... you shouldn't do that to someone you barely know..." an obviously timid girl spoke from a short distance away with a tall boy standing next to her. Another grin from the feral boy and he released Kin, re-joining his team. The boy called Kiba only stretched before taking off onto a roof top continuing his journey down the road, the other two stared after him for a second before glancing back at Kin

"ano... I'm sorry for Kiba, he doesn't mean any harm..."

"Then he shouldn't go around throwing himself at girls" _Whats with those eyes? Some kind of blood limit?_ The timid girl flinched at the hostility in Kin's voice before the taller boy spoke up

"Is there some reason why you were following a genin of the leaf?" kin raised an eyebrow

"what are you talking about?"

"Naruto Uzumaki. He fled this area recently... you've been following him ever since"

"No- I mean I... What's it to you?"Kin inwardly cursed for tripping over her words

"It doesn't matter to me at all. But if I remember correctly it was you who fought Naruto in the prelims "

"Yeah... so?"

"So you gave up your chance of being a chuunins when Naruto was giving it to you... why?" the girl suddenly scowled, her reason was her own

"I have my reasons" the boy gave no visible reaction to the sudden venom in her voice but paused for a few seconds before speaking again.

"Naruto's training field is a 5 minute walk down there... I'm sure Hinata could take you there whilst I meet Kiba" both girls looked shocked at the boys words.

_Why is he helping me find Naruto? Or..is he? Could it be a trap... with the blind girl as a distraction..._

"No, I don't need your help. I can find him on my own"

"You may find him, but you probably won't get close before his Jounin sensei stops you" Kin flinched

"ano... I don't mind going to see Naruto-kun..." a few seconds passed while kin observed the pair with narrowed eyes

_I can't see any signs of deception... But, I don't know_. She breathed out a shaky breath before nodding slightly, the boy nodded in response before taking off in the direction of the feral boy.

"Ano... My name is Hyuuga Hinata" she gave a quick bow whilst keeping both hands in front of her body, kin's expression faltered . _Hyuuga? Those eyes! Thats what they are!_

Feeling her pulse rise slightly she tried to remain calm.

"Tsuchi Kin" the girl gave a small smile before she began to walk down the road

"This is the way to Naruto-kuns training field..." Kin nodded and followed from a few steps behind, keeping a careful eye on the other girl.

"What do you think?" hushed words followed the girls as they made their way toward the field though neither noticed

"... I think we should keep our eye on her, something doesn't add up"

"I know what you mean, something doesn't smell right with her"

OoOoO

"yo" the two girls flinched at the sudden noise, Hinata quickly found the source whilst kin took a few seconds longer. A Jounin sitting in a tree... a orange book cradled protectively in his lap and his headband lowered over one eye.

"can I help you two?"

"Ano... I was.. um.. asked to show this sound nin here" The jounins eye rolled over the sound girl for a few seconds.

"Thank you Hinata, you can go now. Tell Kurenai to tell Asuma 'Pawn to 3-B" the girl nodded slightly before walking back down the road while the Jounin gave a short wave, seconds passed where neither nin spoke

"Tsuchi Kin... little too no Tai-jutsu skill, 1 or 2 low level genjutsu... and no Ninjutsu..." the girls eyes widened with every word spoken by the man in the tree, she opened her mouth slightly to protest but no words came

"What happened in the forest?" the girl closed her eyes at the question, images of the brutal beating flooding to the surface

"W-why?"

"Because whatever it was has affected my team" she lowered her head slightly

"Gomen..."

"Why?"

"Because I think it's my fault... Naruto fought the Uchiha to protect me" Kakashi showed no visible reaction other than a small sigh and a small massage of his temples.

"Okay. Thanks for filling me in, you're here to see Naruto I assume, I have a certain Uchiha to have a serious talk with" the man threw a thumb over his shoulder pointed to a small parting in the trees before evaporating in a small gust. Kin sighed to herself, was it that obvious that she wanted to see Naruto?

OoOoO

Kin looked around the training field in a mild state of shock... there were deep trenches that seemed to have been carved out by earth jutsus, scorch marks on boulders from paper bombs but in the centre of the field there were 5 Naruto's, all bouncing around each other's attacks trying to find an opening ... they didn't seem to have particular style, sloppy even by her standards.

Deciding not to interrupt she sat down on a large stump of wood and stared at a large boulder carved into a sculpture, names on it... _What's K.I.A...?_

Minutes turned to an hour as the blondes clones began to disappear one by one until there was only the original hunched over breathing deeply.

"Don't push yourself to hard" she smiled at the sound of her own voice, suddenly she even sounded happier

"Kin, hey, I didn't know you were here... how long were you here for?" the blonde made a slow jog over to her and leaned against the post she was sat on

"Not long, about 10 or 15 minutes"

"I was gonna go get something to eat, wanna join me?" Kin glanced at the blondes smiling face, _There's still no malice... _

"Uh.. sure" she lowered herself off the log and followed the blonde toward the city.

OoOoO

A cloud hung over Kin's head as she wondered around the hot springs in Konoha, she was walking around with the blonde who was talking about some mission he had in wave, she wasn't listening really, but was glad for the company... partly because it was Naruto, but also for protection

-_Flash Back-_

_Kin was lying in her bed staring out the window at the moon, out the corner of her eye she could see the red headed sand genin doing the same thing, curious as to what he was doing so late she sat up and looked out the window squinting to see that he was gently rocking with his head in his hands..._

'_he looks to be in pain...'_

_She shrugged her shoulders and was about to turn back when she heard a scuttle behind her, before she could react a hand wrapped around her mouth and another around her waist pulling her into an embrace, she struggle slightly only to hear Dosu's voice in her ear_

"_good evening Kin, I'm just here to say that me and zaku are going to go out of our way to make this month... the worst of your life. You'll beg Orochimaru to use you at the end of it" with that he released her mouth and pushed her to the floor. By the time she got up she was once again alone with the moon..._

_-End Flash Back-_

Naruto was looking at the girl as her memories swirled, he decided against interrupting her and opted to sit next to her until she came around. He leaned back on the grass with kin next to him hugging her knees silently, his eyebrows pulled together in concern at the look on her face. But he knew better than to try and force her to tell him, his vision flicked to the sky and watched the clouds drift over

'_They're so poofy...' _he grinned to himself, I'm becoming like Shikamaru, with a second glance at kin to make sure she was okay he turned his attention back to the sky, a few minutes later he was asleep.

OoOoO

There was a short intake of breath to her right that brought Kin from her memories, she looked down to see Naruto beside her curled into a ball, rolling around in his sleep. She smiled slightly and placed a hand on his chest which seemed to relax him... She looked at her hand on his stomach and suddenly felt curious, she lifted his jacket and shirt to see the black marks around his navel again... she lightly traced a finger around the spiral until it reached the centre and drew her eyebrows together in confusion... it was like no seal or mark she had ever seen before, nothing like any of Orochimaru's curse marks... she was about to trace the spiral again when a hand grabbed her wrist, she looked up but the sun blocked his face

"Who are you?" she raised a hand to cover the sun but that arm was grabbed as well

"Never mind who I am, what were you about to do to the boy?" she tried to pull away but the wrists held firm

"Nothing, Naruto's my friend... I was just curious about th-"

"What do you know about the seal?" the man let go of her arms and she fell to the floor with a thud, she looked over at the man who was hunched over Naruto lowering his shirt and jacket

"Who are you? And how do you know Naruto?"

"I helped make the seal" Kin stared at the man silently as his eyes carefully ran over every detail of it

"Good, it's still secure" the man immediately stood up and straightened his back grinning madly... long white hair, red face paint... a horned ninja headband with the kanji for oil. _Who is this guy?_

"so you say you're his friend? Look after him, I'm off" before the girl could protest the man had already made a dash for the hot springs

OoOoO

"**Naruto-kun, there is an evil in our midst..." **The foxes voice bellowed out of the cage

"what evil?"

"**the creature who placed the mark on Sasuke's neck brings another threat with him"**

"what threat fox? Your avoiding the question"

"**because I don't know the answer kid, I just know that the sound village is involved... I wouldn't get to close to them"** Naruto slumped against the wall,

"you think Kin is involved?"the Kyuubi laughed in his head, thrilled that his plan was working

"**probably"** Naruto sat there for a minute before looking into the cage, through the bars with defeated eyes, again the Kyuubi laughed inside, trying his hardest not to let it show... only a curl of the lip betrayed his inner thoughts. He quickly controlled himself and set his lips right, but it was to late, the defeated look in Naruto's eye had disappeared and was replaced with one of anger, disgust and disappointment

"you were lying to me weren't you... you were trying to turn me against kin... everything you've ever said, was any of it true!" his voice was raising higher while Kyuubi cursed his luck and quickly dispelled the boy from the mindscape

OoOoO

Naruto sat up on the grass almost head butting Kin, she shot backwards quickly loosing balance and toppling into the hot spring stream, Naruto stared for a second before he realised what happened and dove in after her throwing his jacket to the side, dragging her to the surface and throwing her onto the shore with the help of a shadow clone.

She coughed for a few minutes before staring at Naruto who was climbing out of the river

'_he came after me?' _she watched as he pulled off his shirt and ringed it out over the stream, it was then that she noticed she was soaking wet herself, she stood up and was about to leave when Naruto handed her his jacket.

"Put this on, don't wanna catch a cold" he ran his eyes over her and smiled,

"you might wanna get out of them wet clothes, where's your hotel?" she grimaced... the hotel is probably where Zaku and Dosu are...

"I don't have a change of clothes anyway... may as well wait for them to dry"

"Okay, well after that splash I'm going to head into the hot springs for a bit, why not join me, you can hang your clothes out to dry while you relax" his smile persuaded her to follow him as he walked toward the entrance leaving a puddle in each step

OoOoO

**Sorry for the long wait :D I'm a slow writer... I write off and on, I can't really say when the next update will be out, won't be more than a week though (y)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello audience! I started writing this chapter on Tuesday the 15th of march! Let's see when it meets the light of day, that's right, I'm in a cave right now. THE SAM CAVE. Anyway**

**LAST TIME!**

**Did anything happen last time? I mean things happened obviously but were they important? I know what was important, and something was BUT WHAT IT WAS YOU WON'T KNOW TILL LATER. So yeah Naruto got his ass kick out of a shop and then he was like 'nuh uh did you just do that' and the shop keep was like 'go way man' so then he did, kin was like 'I feel stalkerish, lets follow!' then Kiba was like 'UNWANTED PHYSICAL CONTACT FTW' and there was people following her and Hinata! THEN Kakashi found about what happened in the forest, Naruto and Kin re met, went to a hot spring and... Kin met Jiraiya! AND we're back in.**

**OoOoO**

Kin revelled in the warm water as she slowly sunk until the water brushed her top lip, her eyes closed, she felt secure here, she opened her eyes slowly blinking at the sudden change in lighting and changed her position slightly and began to stretch out taking full advantage of the rare moment to relax. She glanced at the large wooden post wall that separated the two half's of the spring and began to wander if Naruto was as relaxed as she was.

Said blonde was sitting in the water seething... some old white haired pervert had himself pressed against the separation wall and was giggling madly. When he noticed the man noting down what he was the boy had had enough, standing up in the water he crept toward the man with all the skill he had until he was within 5 foot of the wall

"What are you doing kid?" the boy froze, as the man didn't even move, his giggles only stopped as he took a very serious tone.

"I hope you weren't planning on distracting me from my research" the voice cut through him as a small amount of killer intent leaked into the air, the man slowly turned around with wide eyes and no expression on his face as the area around him seemed to darken , sounds dampened and it looked as if someone were holding a torch under the mans face.

"Well?" Naruto took a wary step back, the last time he'd felt intent like this was with Zabuza, he only shook his head wildly, the man made a grin as the area brightened up again, sounds returned to normal temperature

"well then Kid leave me alone, Valuable times-a-wastin'!" he gave a short laugh and turned back to the small hole in the wall

"WAIT A MINUTE! MY FRIENDS OVER THERE! JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!" a sense of impending doom settled over Naruto as he noticed a small gleam appear behind the old mans face.

"THANK YOU FOR ASKING!" the man shot up into a horse stance suddenly wearing clothes and throwing a torch off to the side and began yelling while Naruto sweat dropped

"I am known near and far across the fire nation and throughout the whole ninja world! I am feared by most and loved by all! Women that is... I am the Myouboku Mountains monk of the frog spirits! Also known as the toad sage! The legendary Jiraiya!" several screams were then heard from across the wall as the man's face dropped and he rushed back over to his hole in the wall, obviously the toad sage had a reputation.

"Baka! They ran away..." the old man pouted as he lowered himself in the water, somehow changing from his clothes without Naruto noticing.

"Good... my friend was over there"

"Ahaaa" the man gave a sly grin

"There's still one girl over there, about your age" the man lowered his voice to a whisper

"Black hair, dark eyes, quite a beauty but a little young for my tastes" he laughed at the boys expression

"Maybe she's your friend, she's right over there if you wanted to sneak a peek, you can even use my hole!" the boys expressions rotated from anger to curiosity to shock before a severe nose bleed knocked him out. Jiraiya only laughed out loud at the display before lowering himself into the water letting it run over his arms and aching muscles...

"Ah... I needed this after the week I've had"

Kin sat on the other side of the wall blushing madly... being a sound nin she had learnt the ability to push chakra to her inner ear, increasing her hearing to that of a nindog. She went over the conversation she'd just heard in her head one more time and closed her eyes tightly in an attempt to cut the thought off. She hadn't heard Naruto respond when the self proclaimed toad sage suggested he peeked on her. In honesty she didn't know how she wanted him to react... if he peeked, it meant he found her attractive, she felt the blush growing when she found herself almost wishing he did peek and began to shake her head to release herself of the perverted thoughts.

OoOoO

Naruto slowly opened his eyes, the warm wet floor confused him for a few seconds, _The... bathroom?_

"Hey kid your awake" he lifted his head to the source of the noise, _this isn't my bathroom... the hot springs?_

"Kid? You okay? Still a little pale" a heavy hand landed on his shoulder and pushed him toward the exit of the springs

"Go rest some, I'll find you in a few days to talk" th blonde could only nod, his head still swimming from the lack of blood.

"See if you can find that girl! She might take care of you if you ask nicely!" Naruto nodded to himself as he pulled his trousers on..._ Kin, yeah... she'll help me. _The blonde made his way to the front of the springs revelling in the cool air. Breathing deep he felt his head clear slightly.

"Naruto?" he glanced up

"Kin?" he took a step forward misplacing his foot slightly, she stepped forward instinctively catching his weight against her. seconds later a deep blush fell across her face when she realised his hace was only inches from her own

"Neh.. thanks kin" he smiled slightly as he raised a hand to his head and rubbed his thick blonde hair

"Are you okay?" she flinched slightly at the sound of her own voice, she'd never heard herself sound like that before... concerned? She brushed off the line of questioning before it could form and ran an arm around Naruto's stomach letting him press his weight against her

"Where do you live Nart-" both ninjas quickly snapped their heads to face the same direction..

Killer intent... a lot of it...

"N-Naruto?"

"We... need to.. go..." the two ninjas stared blankly in the direction of an apartment building where the intent was radiating from neither able to move from the pressure. Kin closed her eyes firmly... she'd felt worse killer intent from Orochimaru... but this was still suffocating, if she.. could just.. she clamped her fist closed pushing her short nails deep into her palm letting the blood drop onto the floor, she quickly regained her composure and pulled Naruto off his feet. Dragging him away from the building, she didn't know where until she felt Naruto tug her in a direction

"Where are we going?"

"My apartment..." she nodded slowly and tried to keep up with the blonde who was diving down alley ways and kicking off walls through an obviously practised route around the village.

"Naruto! Slow down, I... I need to rest!" the girl slowed her pace until she was leaning on her knee with one hand and against a wall with the other. Her eyes widened in surprise as she felt herself being pulled onto Naruto's back, within a second he was back to navigating the quick turns almost un hindered by the extra weight.

"How do you know this route so well?"

"I used it a lot when I was little..." his voice obviously cloaked a deeper reason but told her not to pry, she narrowed her eyes slightly at the sudden change in the boy... he was usually so open, _I guess everyone has secrets..._

The pair landed quietly outside of an old building several minutes later, she climbed off his back slowly string up at the seemingly unstable building, he took a step toward it and she grimaced... _He lives here? _ The boy gently lowered her off his shoulder and made a slow walk toward the decaying building hiding his expression from view, since the mention of his childhood the boy seemed to have lost a certain spring in his step, she missed it already. She quietly followed the boy inside the complex until he came to a door, fishing under a plant pot he grabbed the key and clicked the lock before bashing his shoulder against the door causing it to swing open.

He stepped back and flashed her a small smile letting her into the apartment first, she stepped into the room to find a small sitting room with a large screen door leading to what seemed to be a bedroom, she stepped into the room and took a seat on the dingy couch, taking a second opportunity to glance around the room she saw a small kitchen in the corner littered with various plates and a few ramen cups, all clean to the boys credit. A door in the corner of the room half open showed a small sink, _The bathroom_.

"It's not much" she glanced at the boy who had caught her gaze

"But it's home" he gave her a foxy grin and walked toward the kitchen

"Want anything to drink? Or a ramen cup?" at the mention of food the girls stomach growled madly, she blushed deeply while Naruto only laughed under his breath and flicked the switch on the kettle on. The two sat in a comfortable near silence, the only sound was Naruto gently humming a simple tune, Kin felt a smile tug at her lips as the tune tugged on buried memories... she recognised it quickly... Tayuya used to play it on her flute when the two of them were young, she half closed here eyes as she rolled onto her side giving her a side view of the boy leaning against the back of a chair, staring out of the window.

_A comfortable silence... this is what it must be like to have a friend_, the girl sat up and began running a her finger through her hair as she thought about what kind of a future she had now... a friend, maybe the two of them could eat out together? Train together?... hug? She narrowed her eyes at her obvious desperation for any human contact. Slowly she ran one of her arms across her chest and gave herself a small hug, _Pathetic... you know that right? Hugging yourself? New low Kin._ Before she could snap back at the voice in her head the kettle let off a loud thunk signalling that it was finished. Naruto let out a short cheer and filled the ramen cups before fishing in a draw for chopsticks. The two sat down and hungrily started on their small meals, kin never missing an opportunity to steal a glance at her new friend... who seemed to have some kind of secret.

OoOoO

"What do you mean Naruto can't come in!" both Naruto and kin were taken aback by the sudden aggression his pink haired team mate was showing,

"Miss Haruno please calm down, I am simply stating that I have been forbidden from allowing that boy within the premises" the man didn't seem to be worried about the girl in front of him calmly stating his reasoning before wandering off to help a customer.

"Naruto! What did you do to that guy!" the pink haired girl quickly rounded all her rage onto the boy who flinched at the question before quickly giving a grin

"Must have been that time I went around with paint bombs" Sakura sighed and glanced at Kin

"I swear that guy digs himself such a hole, most shops won't even serve him" Kin forced a small smile while observing Naruto once again flinch at the statement.

"Well come on, we have to get you a change of clothes somewhere Naruto"

"Hai..." the blonde obediently followed the two girls out of the shop and into another... e didn't even want to change out of his orange, sure it made him a moving target, but there was something comforting about it. Like it reassured him of his identity. Kin smiled sweetly at Naruto, who mock scowled back,

"This is your fault" she feigned shock

"Me?" she replied innocently

"If you hadn't mentioned it to Sakura we wouldn't be here" she laughed again before turning into another shop, the blonde only sighed and followed the pair in.

OoOoO

"I can't believe nowhere would serve you..." the three genin slowly approached Naruto's apartment as the sun began to sink into the sky, a look of pure curiosity was plastered on Sakura's face as she had also began to take note of the small flinches Naruto had been giving off all day.

"Is it something you've done?" the blonde sighed but gave no other response, this was obviously his sore spot... it hurt the two girls to see him look so... defeated

"Neh, cheer up Naruto... you get to keep your orange after all" kin playfully jabbed him in the ribs hoping for a reaction, but only got a tilt of the head and a small smile. The girl slowly closed the gap between the two and quietly spoke into the blondes ear

"Is this the same thing that got you down earlier... why you know the back passages of the village so well?" the blondes eyes widened slightly as he suddenly stopped walking

"Naruto?" Sakura quickly noticed how close Kin was standing to him and gave a light blush when she saw her talking into Naruto's ear... _what is she doing? Would she really go THAT far to cheer him up!_

"Uh... Kin, what are you... doing?" Kin snapped her head to Sakura's direction with a smile on her face,

"Don't worry I think I just need to talk to Naruto about some stuff" Sakura nodded dumbly and began to walk toward her house, screaming in her mind to stop Kin before she and Naruto... did... things... _Wait, why do I even care? Woahhh don't go down that road Sakura_

Kin watched as the pink haired girl shivered from several meters away before letting off a brief scream and began to sprint in the direction of her home

"What happened?" She glanced at Naruto hoping he'd at least smile at the situation

"How about we go out to eat tonight... Ichiraku?" she let a small breath of relief out as a familiar light crept back into Naruto's eyes

"Yeah, Ichiraku sounds good"

OoOoO

"You know the other thing I love about Ramen?" Naruto half burped half spat at kin who was sat next to him at the small stand, she looked at him with a raised eyebrow, not wanting to talk with her mouth full. She almost snorted the noodles out her nose when she saw the twin trails of noodles hanging from the boys open mouth and the fish cracker on his cheek

"The smell" he finished as kin swallowed

"You already said the smell..." the middle aged man stirring the large cooking pot raised a humorous eyebrow at the blonde who only snorted

"Yeah yeah old man, another bowl please" the girl Kin now knew as Ayame walked over and replaced Naruto's bowl with another

"That make 3 Naruto, sure you have the cash tonight for both of you?" Naruto patted his pocket to show off the sound of coins bouncing around while Kin glanced at him

"You're paying for me?" the teenage girl quickly swooped across the table to look deeply into Kin's eyes

"Of course he is, you are his date after all" Naruto quickly breathed in his chopsticks getting them lodged in his throat at the waitresses words, who only laughed as kin gently removed them helping Naruto onto his chair, Kin attempted to fight down a blush while Naruto downed a glass of water, glaring daggers at Ayame who only watched the pair with vicious intent hidden below the surface. Naruto caught a glimpse of this and sighed... there was a lot more to come tonight.

OoOoO

**I hope you guys are okay with this Kind of short chapter... But hey its the 18****th**** now... 3 days? Is that a long time..? I think it is. BUT I don't really know. Ah well, more on Monday I guess .**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello Audience, today is Monday and as promised I am updating (writer magic, today is actually Sunday and I am writing this yesterday, even though when I am writing it, it is today) anyway. I have had a few comments saying that my summary of the previous chapter is popular. I can't say I blame you. Anyway, if you would like to read more of my random rambling and the like you can find numerous short stories I have written along with a daily doodle at:**

The-Odd-Blog(dot)Tumblr(dot)com (Yes I am advertising my blog)

**LAST TIME!**

**Kin was in the hot springs being all relaxified whereas Naruto was being a un-relaxified and meeting Jiraiya our favourite self proclaimed super pervert. Naruto was like 'donchoo be pervin on mah friend' and he was like 'oh but she fit!' Naruto was like 'GWARRRRRRR' but the fainted because he's wimpy really THEN him and kin went to his apartment to get away from crazy ass killer intent. THEN THEY WENT SHOPPING with Sakura, both girls got a brief window into the sad show which is Naruto's daily life... maybe they can understand? OR MAYBE NOT. **

**Let's find out.**

**OoOoO**

Naruto and kin walked slowly out of the ramen stand both sporting a deep blush as Ayame had made several inappropriate comments seconds before, the pair walked slowly through the streets of the usually busy roads and stared up into the night sky, hours had passed while they were eating at Ichiraku and now the sky had become cloaked with the deep purple dotted with countless white lights and the ominously large moon which dominated the skyline. Kin had been dreading this moment all day... the moment she would have to head back to the hotel, she sighed and looked at the blonde walking beside her, he looked almost carefree as he swung his arms freely in the wind craning his neck to look into the night sky.

"N-Naruto..." he rolled his eyes over her to show she had his attention

"The villagers today" he tensed

"Why did they glare so much?"

"You noticed that huh..."

"Well... yeah, I got glared at a bit in Otogakure because I'm a girl... but nowhere near like this" her voice shook slightly as memories rushed to the surface of her treatment in Otogakure, before she realised what was happening, she felt two arms wrap around her small body and embrace her tightly, she felt herself tense at the sudden contact, she obviously wasn't used to it, and the way that Naruto also froze up showed he wasn't either

"N-Naruto?" she spoke quietly into his shoulder neither one wanting the embrace to end

"You should never have to suffer..." she smiled at his words and waited quietly for him to continue whilst slowly snaking her own arms around his waist

"If you've had to suffer as much as I have... then you should leave Oto..." the girl gawped at his words

"Leave sound?" she broke the embrace quickly and turned on her heel taking a few steps away, _There's no way he's being serious... how can he joke about this... it's delicate._ She finished with a nervous laugh

"You're crazy Naruto" she caught a look in his eye... no joke, no malice... she sighed

_Where would I even go?_

"Here"

"What?"

"Here, you can stay here" she hadn't meant to voice the question outloud...

"What, here as in Konoha?" he nodded, and spread his arms

"But... here" _where is here? Naruto's... apartment..? No way!_

"Y-your... apartment?" he grinned

"Yeah" she felt her knees shake as she stared into his deep eyes, he wasn't joking... his smile was warmer than before, she could tell he wanted this as much as she did... _would he ask me to live here if he liked me? No... We're just friends, _she smiled..._Friends... the old pervert called me his friend.. I guess we are._

"O-okay" his smile changed slightly... everything seemed more.. realistic, less forced, was this his real smile?

"Naruto?"

"Heh... sorry I'm just happy" she preferred this smile... it made his other ones look almost hollow, something snapped in her mind.

The villagers hate him.

His team mates think he's useless.

A fake smile... he's the same as me, she lowered her head and once again felt a tear roll down her cheek, Naruto looked at her and felt his jaw drop. What had he done this time? He ran over, grabbing her arms shaking them

"Kin-chan! Don't cry, I'm sorry! Let me make it up to you" her tears soon turned to laughter as she finally realised she wasn't as alone as she thought.

OoOoO

Kin cautiously stepped through the small damaged door frame and into the apartment, she looked around and the thing which took her notice straight away was the state... it was almost spotless, from the outside it looked like crap, but inside it was quite welcoming. She felt comfortable here... she felt herself loosen up and strode over to Naruto who was looking through the cupboards, she thought about accepting for a second, letting the idea of it wash over her... she'd be safe, free... happy? No... of course not, would Orochimaru stand for that? Stupid Kin she cursed at herself for almost endangering her friend

"Naruto..." he glanced over his shoulder to show he was listening before looking back into the cupboard

"I appreciate the offer.. but I can't stay here" she noticed him slump visibly and suddenly felt bad

"it's nothing to do with you, I'd love to live with you," she blushed at her own words

"I-I mean um, h-here in the same place, don't get the wrong idea!" she laughed nervously while Naruto raised an eyebrow

"why can't you stay here then?" she sighed... she couldn't tell him the truth, he'd get himself killed trying to help, a fake smile

"I feel like I'd be a bother"

"you don't have to worry about that Kin-chan, It's not a bother at all. I enjoy company and I've never had someone to stay before..." he felt a blush play on his cheeks but only hoped she didn't notice, why was he even blushing? Was it because of that stupid pervert hermit putting ideas in his head? He mentally shook himself and continued sorting through the cupboards. Kin looked at the floor and shuffled nervously over to the couch and sank into the cushions

'_maybe I should accept? I do want to... I just don't want Naruto to get involved' _ she screamed inside her head at the confusion but only one thing was sure... she cared what happened to Naruto... what was she doing? Getting attached to the enemy, she was disgusted with herself...you don't deserve him as a friend.

'_your low Kin '_she spat inside her head

'_you know what Orochimaru is planning to do to this village, yet you're not doing a thing to stop him... you have the power to help the leaf gain a bit of a foot hold but no, to afraid for your own good. Pathetic'_ once again she felt herself welling up but managed to calm herself before Naruto noticed, he sat down with two cups of ramen and a big smile on his face

"eat eat, you must be hungry" she pushed a cup into her hand and plopped the kettle onto the table in front of them and started to make work on his cup

"ah- hai, Itadakimasu!"

A few minutes later and Kin set down the empty cup and was feeling slightly better. Naruto had finished almost before shed even started and had run into his bedroom. Just as she was about to ask him what he was doing he stepped back into the living room, her mouth open slightly, which was the only display of her shock. He was wearing a black t-shirt with a red swirl on the back and a pair of dark jeans, without his hitai-ate on his hair fell just brushing the top of his eyes

"What are you looking at?" he raised an eyebrow

"N-nothing!, you just scrub up well" she looked away, he scratched his nose In nervous habit.

"so, are you going to be spending tonight here" the girl nodded slightly as a blush tinged her cheeks, the boy smiled and pointed her to the direction of the bedroom

"You can use the bed, we have to get up early tomorrow, we'll be meeting everyone" kin's eyes widened at the suggested plan... wouldn't people recognise her?

"But, your friends... will they trust me?"

"Well, it doesn't bother me if they don't... I still trust you, it'll only be a matter of time before they do too" she nodded again before closing the bedroom door with silent thanks, pulling her shirt and combat jeans off she climbed under the covers... _It smells like him..._

OoOoO

"...she's from sound?" Kurenai eyed the girl critically

"Yeah, she took part in the genin exams but withdrew during the prelims" Kurenai's eyes widened in recognition

"Oh! She's the girl you fought with" both genin nodded

"Anyway, this is team 8, Shino Aburame, Kiba Inazuka and Hinata Hyuga"

"We have already had an encounter with this genin sensei..." the Jounin shrugged

"How about once I've finished my missions for the day, we meet up. I'm sure you'd like to hang round with a real ninja after all" Kiba gave a sly wink to the girl whilst Kin shied away from the attention by moving behind Naruto's arm.

"Hey I am so a real ninja! I could kick your butt anytime!"

"Oh yeah! How about it blondie!"

"Ano... Kiba... you shouldn't talk to Naruto-kun like that" Naruto flashed a smile at the girl who immediately burned a bright red,

"Naruto... I think my team had better start doing their daily missions now" Kurenai spoke with a stern tone that dared refusal, all three of her genin quickly straightened up and bounced toward the academy to retrieve the days missions. Kurenai only shook her head before jumping after the three team mates.

"Shino." She stated clearly once out of earshot from Naruto and Kin

"What is it you want to tell me about kin" Shino adjusted his glasses slightly while he slowed his pace to match his sensei's and begin to relay information he had gathered on the sound girl.

OoOoO

Naruto was walking along the street with his arms behind his head casually and kin walking beside him her hands fidgeting nervously in front of her thighs,

"calm down Kin, everyone will love you" he smiled, though she didn't feel better that smile was infectious and she smiled back,

"NARUTO! YOU have a girlfriend? And one I'd say is slightly out of your range as well, how did you reel this one in? I'm Ino by the way, and that Asuma Shikamaru and Choji, so where are you from?"

"Ino... calm down" Asuma rubbed his temples lightly

"Um... this is Kin, a ninja from the village hidden in the sound. I'm just showing her around Konoha" Ino grinned knowingly

"so your saying you're not together? Because you'd be so cute together" both blushed and Ino knew she was onto something

"Sound village? Troublesome..."

"Shikamaru! Be nice!" she flicked him in the head only for him to mutter under his breath

"anyway... Ino we'll be going, people to see!" he grabbed Kin's hand and dashed away as fast as he could, before Ino could put her matchmaking skills to the test.

'_huh... lucky I have to spend the rest of the day training with her... what a drag'_

OoOoO

"Naruto... this is the friend you told me about?" Kakashi looked at him with disbelief

"hai sensei" he grinned

"Ah.. okay well, I'm Kakashi Hatake... Naruto's Jounin instructor, pleasure to meet you, Kin was it?"

"hai, you to Kakashi-sensei" she bowed

"aha... you don't have to call me that, I'm not your sensei" he waved it off

"you may also want to introduce yourself to Naruto's team mates, over there" he gestured to the two genin practising a few foot away...

"I need to speak to Naruto for a second, don't worry" with that he jumped from the branch he was perched on and took Naruto's shoulder leading him a few meters away

"Naruto... is this really a good idea?" Naruto brought his eye brows together

"is what a good idea Kakashi sensei?"

"becoming attached to the enemy"

"she's not really an enemy... I mean sure different village, but were not at war"

"but we're not allied either Naruto" he shook his head

"I won't say stop seeing her... Just be aware" he gave an eye smile and turned around to see something that made his heart skip a beat

OoOoO

Kin walked toward the two genin slowly... these were the two she was most afraid of speaking to... and they were the only ones Naruto wasn't here for, she swallowed

"good morning, I'm Kin... from soun-"

"we know who you are" she flinched from the venom in the words

"Sasuke, be nice."

"shut up Sakura, she's from an enemy village, scum" he scoffed and turned on his heel, Sakura didn't know how to respond, she just busied herself with checking her weapons, clumsily dropping a kunai. She saw kin reach down to pick it up.

"get away from her" Sakura's head snapped up to see Sasuke already making seals

"now Sakura!" he brought his fingers to his lips and flames began to lick his lips

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" the fire quickly exploded from his mouth and scorched the ground heading for Sakura and Kin.

When the dust settled Sasuke smirked at the destruction

'_not even a body, huh I must be improving'_

"Sasuke! what were you thinking!" the boy looked over his shoulder to see a startled Sakura and Kin wrapped over Kakashi's shoulder.

"an attack like that could spark the fires of war!"

"she provoked me.." the boy scoffed and walked away with his hands in his pockets, Kakashi only sighed and lowered the girls to the ground, the kunai still in Kin's hand.

"what were you doing with that kunai" he eyed it suspiciously and she quickly explained, Sakura nodding along to confirm

"he might have thought you were going to use the kunai..." Kakashi sighed again and started after Sasuke

"I'm sorry about that Kin..." Sakura took the kunai and slipped it back into her pouch and bowed slightly

"Naruto? Are you going to train with us today? We haven't seen you in a while" Kin sensed regret nipping in Sakura's tone and suddenly felt jealous. Jealous? Where had that come from? She sighed to herself...

"Maybe Sakura... I need to finish showing Kin-chan around first... but first... did Sasuke think Kin was a danger when he attacked?" Sakura's eyes didn't meet his instead they were searching the ground

"maybe? I don't know... it was all so fast... I think he might have been making seals before she picked up the kunai though" Naruto sighed...

"I thought so... thank you Sakura, I'll see you tomorrow probably" with that the blonde took off into the trees with the sound genin closely behind... Sakura stood in the clearing alone with only one thing running though her mind

'_he called me Sakura instead of Sakura-chan... while she was called Kin-chan instead of Kin'_

"well that wasn't awkward at all!" Naruto shouted over his shoulder to earn a smirk from kin.

OoOoO

"Naruto... why did that boy attack me?" the question had been eating at her for hours, now they had circled Konoha enough times for her to be able to run it on her own twice as fast, and were sitting in Ichiraku ramen stand finishing off a very large order. She saw Naruto flinch slightly at the question

"you didn't recognise him?" she shook her head

"he's the guy who was beating the crap out of you in the forest..." he eyes widened as she remember the ordeal in the forest... when she thought Naruto had died, another snap in her mind

That seal

"the seal on your stomach, what is it? Ive seen a lot of seals in my life but... ummm, Naruto?" she looked at the boy who now seemed totally different. Second before he was inhaling ramen by the gallon, but now he looked like a child... shadows over his eyes conveyed pain.

"when did you see it?"

"in the forest... why?"

"did anyone else?"

"only Sakura, Naruto are you okay?"

"...I can't talk about it here... but later, I'll tell you about it later" and with that the smile returned and everything seemed okay again, but a knot in her stomach told her that everything was going to be different because of this... all she could rely was

"hai"

OoOoO

**Ohh, Looks like Naruto might be doing some revealing NEXT TIME.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello Audience, I don't have much to say :D**

**Last time!**

**Naruto asked Kin to live with him, Naww. Kin was like **_**Hmmm maybe, but then Orochimaru might go all snakey on his ass**_**. Then Naruto was like 'LETS GO MEET EVERYONE!' and kin was like 'yeah, how could that not be a good idea' well here's how, Sasuke (our favourite emo) lit a fire up under her ass! Kakashi was less than impressed at this! And after that Kin asked Naruto about the seal!... exciting.**

**OoOoO**

The two genin walked slowly toward the old apartment building in a comfortable silence, Kin glanced at the boy beside her and immediately felt her own mood drop at his image... _he looks so broken, is the seal that big of a deal?_

Naruto's eyes searched the floor thinking of all the ways that Kin would react to the Kyuubi, none were good, his pace slowed as they turned the last corner to the building, Kin noticed the slow in his steps and felt the tension rise, she knew she'd have to say something to try and put his mind at ease.

"You know no matter what you tell me about that seal, your still the guy who saved my life... the seal won't change that" she managed a smile as he seemed to perk up slightly at her words

"I hope so..." was all he said before the silence once again descended.

The two climbed the stairs, ignoring a whispering pair of women by the entrance to the building. As they neared the door Naruto dropped to his knee and lifted the plant pot to grab the key, Kin leaned against the wall opposite his door and watched the boy lean hard against the door, pushing his weight against it, she narrowed her eyes as he began to strain.._._cracks? she gently touched Naruto's arm to draw his attention silently and pointed at the cracks in the door frame.

_Forced entry? Who would risk breaking into a ninjas apartment?_ A hushed whisper inside the room silenced any doubt in her mind... Naruto was being robbed. She glanced at the boy expecting him to beat the door down only to feel her heart drop, the defeated look in his eyes had returned ten fold... deep shadows covered his eyes, masking obvious pain he was feeling. She brought a finger up to her lips, he nodded slightly in response... she would handle the thieves.

OoOoO

Kin thought about her current situation... _Scaling Naruto's apartment building to climb in through his bathroom window... how did it come to this? Stupid thieves... they'll get what's coming to them, how dare they break into Naruto-kun's apartment!_ Kin flinched at her own thoughts... _Kun? Where did that come from? Am I getting soft?_ She shook herself free of her thoughts and focused on the matter at hand, she gently pressed her weight against the damaged window frame and felt it give slightly, she pressed her eye against the small hole to check if anyone was there... no, slowly she squeezed through the small hole and repositioned the window once inside. The bath room was small and dark, she was about to reach from the drawstring light when a voice on the other side of the door froze her, she focused chakra to her ears quickly and listened to the hushed voices... 2 men, the footsteps of another... young male, possibly a women... Not shinobi, that thought scared her more than anything.

"When the demon opens the door, give it everything you've got. Did anyone check the bathroom yet?" _Demon?_

"I'll do it now"

"hurry, it should be here soon" the seconds man scoffed under his breath then his footsteps began to approach the bathroom, Kin cursed under her breath and checked for a place to hide... the tub? _This room is too damn small!_

The door swung open and the male walked into the room, tearing down the shower curtain he checked the bath for any stray weapons, he sighed finding nothing and opened the medicine cabinet to find a few stray shuriken, he shut the bathroom door to see a few more shuriken buried deep into the wood, he smiled slightly and began to pull them out. As he grabbed the last one he noticed a near invisible string attached to it, he eyed it nervously and followed it to the roof of the room... attached to a small needle. He rolled his eyes and pulled the shuriken out of the door, causing the senbon to drop. He slapped the needle aside harmlessly failing to notice the small bell attached to it. The almost silent ding of the bell caused the man to fall into simple genjutsu, knocking him unconscious. Before he could hit the floor however the shuriken he held burst into smoke to reveal Kin holding the mans arm, stopping him for thudding against the floor. After lowering him into the bath slowly she tied him up and took a henge of him leaving the room with the gathered weapons.

"Find anything?" Kin coughed into her hand to test her tone before answering

"Not much, a few stars and a knife" she handed them to the man who seemed to be the leader, he smiled and handed them out amongst the five people present including herself. Two men a boy no older than Naruto and a woman...

_These people are sick... why are they even doing this?_ She calmed herself down and stood where the ringleader told her, giving her a good shot of the door. She lowered herself into a ninja stance, kunai raised.

OoOoO

Just outside the door Naruto counted down in his head '3... 2... 1...' he closed his eyes and barged the door open with as much strength as he could gather, shards of wood splintered the room, causing a small gasp to escape a boys mouth, the fork that had jammed the door closed bounced across the floor until it landed at the foot of the ring leader who picked it up with a grin. Naruto eyed each of the five intruders in turn trying to seek out kin, immediately he noticed one stood in a ninja stance while the other took clumsy poses. A second later 4 weapons shot at the door, most missing completely, he made a shadow clone quickly which he used as protection whilst he flipped over a table. Usually he would wait until the attackers ran out of ammo and ran out the door... but Kin being over there changed the situation... amongst the curses aimed him he heard a small chime as a senbon hit the roof above him. The low level genjutsu was easily dispelled by him, but a few thuds on the other side of the room told him that the public were nowhere near as good at detecting or defending against genjutsu.

A few seconds passed before he decided to dare a look over the table, Kin was already tying up the intruders, a frown on her face promised death to them if they woke up. She glanced at him and immediately snarled in anger pulling out a kunai and brought it to one of their necks when a firm hand stopped her,

"Why are you defending them!"

"I have to..." she growled and shook her arm to try and her his grasp

"Why!"

"BECAUSE I WANT TO BE HOKAGE!" Kin jumped slightly at the volume of his voice but didn't immediately respond, she only stared at the civilians and then at Naruto again

"They don't deserve a Hokage like you... they don't even deserve your forgiveness" the boy sighed and picked up three of the bodies gesturing the fourth to her

"They'll have my forgiveness whether they want it or not" she shook her head, unable to understand him before heading to the bathroom, picking up the fifth civilian

"Where do we take them?"

"Oldman Hokages office, he told me to bring anyone there" Kin nodded in approval and headed toward the front door, grunting slightly under the weight of two older men.

OoOoO

"Naruto I feel like I have to apologise again, I haven't done a very good job of looking after you recently but as you know our resources are spread thin with the upcoming finals and-"

"Don't try and excuse it! He's one of your ninja! You should protect him!" Kin was livid... and beyond crazy. _What the fuck am I doing? Shouting at a Hokage! Oh god I'm going to die_... the last thing she expected was the man to laugh, his brittle laughter filled the room, she felt her anger rising once again and began yelling

"YOU'RE LAUGHING! HE WAS ATTACKED IN HIS HOME NOT 5 MINUTES AGO AND YOU'RE LAUGHING!" she saw him raise a hand to silence her and she quickly did... he may not be the most worthy of respect but he was the Hokage. She shifted her weight angrily from one foot to the other and folded her arms over her chest glaring that the man who was wiping tears from under his reading glasses

"Naruto. It seems you've made a friend" the man smiled fondly at the boy and then at the girl who was taken aback

"Hai Ojii-chan... This is Kin, she's from the village hidden in the sound" the old man nodded

"Welcome my young diplomat, you hold your ground well, especially in a foreign land and under the scrutiny of a Kage no less" she was clearly uncomfortable under his compliments as she looked away quickly, trying to retain her anger..

"I have heard many things about the sound village, how Is your Otokage? Well I hope" the old man smiled fondly as if recalling happy memories, when in reality the memories were all of his past student.

"H-hai Hokage-sama... very well, I'm surprised you were un-aware he was currently in the village" the man's face gave no element of shock or surprise. He chuckled again

"Oh dear child, we met up not long ago, but leaders never reveal their weakness to each other in person... it's a power play" she nodded

"Anyway I have a lot of work to be doing, so if you'd scurry on home" he shooed the two away but not before thrusting an envelope into Naruto's hand.

"a small reward, we've been trying to catch those simpletons for a while now. Can't have them disturbing the peace again" as he spoke he lowered his hat and walked back toward his office, his ever apparent smile disappeared as he entered the room and looked at the slowly awakening men.

"Now you're going to tell me who arranged for you to attack Naruto... You lack the resources to orchestrate this Fuji..." The ring leader quailed under the Hokages gaze and quickly began to give all the information he had on the man who had planned the attack.

OoOoO

Kin stared firmly at the blonde in front of her as they bounced from roof top to roof top, _Why would they have attacked Naruto like that...? _Her memory flashed..._ they called him a demon, what did they mean? Has Naruto done something? _She quickly dismissed the idea, unable to think of anything that would be bad enough to merit a personal attack. She sped her pace slightly until she was on par with him, she eyed him with obvious worry in her eyes as they landed down outside the apartment together. Naruto seemed reluctant to enter the now destroyed room, he leaned against the opposite wall staring into the apartment, kin watched him for a few seconds before running her hand down his arm and gripping his hand gently pulling him to his feet she walked him through the doorframe and into the apartment straight into the bedroom, gently lowering him onto the bed, a few seconds passed in silence where neither looked each other in the eye.

"Kin... you need to go" her eyes widened at his words... _He wants me to go?_

"W-what?"

"It's not safe around me..." she relaxed slightly... _He wants to protect me, but I can't just leave him_

"Naruto, don't be silly... I'm a ninja, I'm used to danger" she cracked a small smile

"Plus those lot weren't dangerous at all"

"This isn't a joke Kin!" she lost her balance at the volume the boy suddenly used, landing on the floor she looked up at the boy who was staring at her angrily

"This time they were civilians! Last time there was a chuunin! Next time there might be a Jounin!" she felt her mouth open slightly

"Ninja have attacked you?"

"Dozens of them!" he stood up quickly and kicked a t-shirt on the floor into the wall

"Naru-"

"I want to tell you about myself" she stared at him only to see he wasn't meeting her eyes, she nodded slightly

"Hai..." he sighed and looked away, facing the wall while she stared at his back

"I'm not sure what you were told in Otogakure, about the Kyuubi" she drew her eye brows together

"Something about one of the Hokage killing it? But what does that have to do wi-"

"He didn't kill it... No one can kill a demon" she heard him take a sharp breath in

"He had to seal it into something to protect the village" she narrowed her eyes

"What did he seal it into?" a few seconds passed where the boy seemed to be fighting a battle inside of himself

"A baby..." Kin tilted her head in confusion before her memory clocked... _Demon... seal... hate... Vessel..._

"It was you..." the words the boy spoke were almost silent but unmistakeable

"You can go if you want..." there was an edge of pain to the voice that made Kin's heart throb, she stood up quietly and wrapped her arms around Naruto's stomach...

"You still saved my life... you're not a demon" the boy slumped helplessly against the wall in front of him, sobbing uncontrollably, kin felt herself welling up at the display... _Am I the only one he's told?_ She felt a tear roll down her cheek and quickly wiped it against the boys back, _I can't cry now..._

"N-Naruto... I want to stay here with you" his sobbing turned to a weak laughter after a few minutes and soon the two were sitting at the table with a ramen cup, discussing creative ways of stealing Kin's clothes from the motel before night came...

OoOoO

Kin felt a smile tug at her lips, her and Naruto were bouncing along the roof tops toward his apartment, their plan to grab her equipment had gone off without a hitch, Dosu and Zaku were none the wiser. She cast a glanced over her shoulder at the blonde who was carrying a large duffel bag full of her clothes and felt her smile grow, _Is this what it's like to be happy?_ The feeling was cut short when a familiar killer intent spiked to their left, both shook slightly but managed to stick their landing and cats a glare in the direction the intent was radiating from... seconds later several cloaked figures appeared around the building and closed in swiftly

"ANBU..." Naruto glanced at Kin who had closed the short distance between them and was now whispering in his ear... then as quickly as the intent appeared, it was gone. The ANBU hadn't even had a chance to make a move... Kin and Naruto watched to see if the projector would leave the building... but nothing. What seemed like hours passed before the ANBU approached the building with obvious caution...

"Uzumaki-san..." Naruto jumped at the sound of the voice

"H-hai!" he spun on his heel to meet a boar mask

"Did you witness the spike of KI in that building?"

"Hai"

"Did you recognise it?" Naruto scrunched up his face slightly but nodded slowly after a few seconds, the Anbu quickly brought a hand to his ear and whispered a few coded words and waited for the almost silent response in his ear piece.

"Alright, Uzumaki-san we need to bring you in for a brief report on where you felt this intent before and any information you can give us" Tired of being ignored Kin spoke up quickly

"Was there no-one there?" the ANBU didn't look at her

"I'm afraid this is a Konoha issue Sound-san." Kin bit back a retort as Naruto made a face

"She was with me when I felt the Killer Intent before though" the Boar masked man remained silent for a few seconds whilst he seemed to roll his eyes over Kin suspiciously. A few more mumbled words and he nodded to himself

"Okay... Uzumaki-san, you will escort this sound genin to the interrogation room, there you will be questioned for information regarding the KI" both genin were about to nod but before they could even begin the movement the man disappeared. Kin glanced at Naruto who scratched the back of his head

"Who'd have thought we'd end up at the interrogation room" he laughed nervously as she gave a smirk but lead the way toward the Hokage tower.

OoOoO

**Updated, yay :D**

**I'm so chuffed, getting over 50 faves and alerts :D You guys make me happy ^.^ so thank you x**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello Audience. I seem to have fallen into a neat habit of updating every Monday and Friday, which is nice. Everyone likes routine. Anyway!**

**LAST TIME!**

**Naruto got attacked in his housey! Kin was like 'I'll take down these fudgers' and then Naruto was like 'lets do this!' then kin was like STABSTABSTAB but Naruto was like 'dont be doin that' and she was like 'why' and he was like 'cuz Ill show em what for when I'm Hokage' and kin was like 'aww' THEN Naruto told kin bout the Kyuubi and she was like 'that why you have whiskers?' and he was like 'that srsly your first question?' THEN THERE WAS SUMMAT ABOUT A KILLER INTENT and now kin and Naruto are on their way to be interrogated. Fun huh?**

**OoOoO**

Kin shuddered as a cool breeze passed through the wide halls, the dim lights on the ceiling barely lit the entire passage and left large areas pooled in shadow, thin rusted pipes ran along the walls and ceiling disappearing into the walls every so often only to reappear soon after. The ANBU she and Naruto had been following down the passage did little to settle her mood. Mistrustful eyes peered from behind the mask every time they turned their head, were all ANBU like that? I suppose they had to be to an extent... More stairs, this facility was going further and further underground, a few twists and turns in the identical hall ways made sure that any who entered would easily get lost, but the ANBU navigated them expertly, leading the pair quickly to a large metal door. Rapping their knuckles on it gently it slid open to show a very large man on the other side, a bandanna pulled tightly across his scalp, Naruto recognised him immediately.

"You're the one from the exam!" the man raised an eyebrow and bit back a smile... _This kid again._

"Yeah... the one with the scars" The man folded his arms over his chest and nodded at the ANBU who disappeared soon after

"My name is Morino Ibiki, I'm the head of the torture and interrogation unit" he eyed the two carefully

"I hear you have some information for me" the two genin nodded quickly and stepped through the heavy iron door which slid closed behind them. each took a seat in the centre of the room with The giant man sat in front of them, as he opened his mouth to speak a heavy thud rung on the door, the man only barked an order for them to go away, a second passed before the person hammered on the door again. Ibiki growled and walked over to the door, sliding it open to reveal Kakashi

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Naruto? What are you doing here?" the man put away his ever present book and stepped into the room avoiding Ibikis deathly stares

"Kakashi-san, we've talked about this, you can't just walk into an interrogation" Kakashi only slumped against a wall and stared at Ibiki, a small battle of wills went on between the two before Ibiki sighed and slid the door shut, retaking his seat and doing his best to ignore the stares from Kakashi across the room.

"Now, would you two please tell me what you witnessed"

"They're the witnesses?" Kakashi lurched forward toward the centre of the room and crouched next to Ibiki, his eyes firmly planted onto Naruto and Kin. Ibiki nodded slowly and repeated his question, Naruto swallowed at the intensity in Kakashi's eyes but retold the story of what happened at the springs. Kin nodded along quietly before retelling the same story. Ibiki nodded slowly with his eyes closed, in an attempt to visualise the events.

"That was around the time that the post mortem says she died..." Kakashi spoke quickly while he stood up and pulled out his orange book skipping to the last page making notes.

"You think she was killed at this site, then moved to the motel to be discovered?" Kakashi nodded,

"It's not his usual pattern..." Ibiki sat back in his chair before glancing at the confused genin,

"You two may leave" he made his way over to the door and slid it open, the ANBU member stood outside with a begrudging stare aimed at the pair, both shuddered under his gaze but silently followed. Kin narrowed her eyes... _something is defiantly wrong here. _

She focused a small amount of chakra and pushed it to her ears in an attempt to hear the conversation Kakashi and Ibiki had without them present... a sound proof room, she pushed more chakra to her ears hoping the ANBU wouldn't notice. She gritted her teeth slightly and released a small stream of chakra to even the balance in her body encase the ANBU picked up on it.

"Are you sure it's him?"

"You saw the body, there's no mistake"

"Kakashi... I think you need to sort your head out. All evidence says it's not the same guy..."

"But the cutting! Don't back down now Ibiki, this is the first time he's come out in years!"

"Exactly! You need it to be him! Otherwise he might have gotten away!" A short silence followed while Kin began to feel the strain of keeping so much chakra focused and began to breath heavily, the ANBU threw a nasty look over their shoulder which froze Kin instantly dropping her focus on the chakra returning her hearing to normal

"Hear anything interesting?" her eyes widened slightly

"W-what?" the ANBU only scoffed and carried on walking but at a slightly faster pace

OoOoO

The sun cracked in through the open blind and landed on the bed in Naruto's apartment, the current owner of the bed lay on the floor next to it in a sleeping bag, fast asleep. The figure in the bed turned away from the window and stared at the boy on the floor, he scratched his face in his sleep and smiled contently. She noticed the whisker marks on his cheeks and found herself wondering if they were because of the fox... she slowly stooped her legs over the side of the bed and leaned over, intrigued by the boys sleeping face,

'_I guess he's... cute?'_ she mentally sighed. Why was she getting so soft? She stood up and walked over to the bathroom and thought about what she was doing... it was ridiculous, I mean... living with an enemy nin to protect you from your team mates? What a stupid situation... she placed a hand on the mirror and wiped the steam away... her eyes were red and puffy, she scoffed and turned around holding a sleeve to her eyes. She placed a hand on the door to leave when it opened to reveal Naruto, who was also rubbing his eyes and yawning,

"Kin? Morning" he cracked a grin until he noticed the redness of her eyes and immediately got concerned

"what's wrong? Were you crying?" she pushed her way past him and walked toward the kitchen while talking under her breath

"it was just a bad dream... don't worry" he walked after her slowly holding onto the door frame watching her scurry around the kitchen aimlessly, she glanced to notice him watching her

"well?"

"what was your dream?" she brought a hand to her lip in thought...

' _would it matter if I told him? ' _she cast her mind back to the previous night...

_-flash back-_

_Kin stood in a field, the sky a deep red and the long grass a sickly purple... the light red clouds formed faces of her family and their voices echoed in her head_

"_I wish I hadn't had children..." the time she'd over heard her father talking jumped into her mind... and her father's voice faded into her mother_

"_It's only for a little while... Orochimaru-sama promised us a lot of gold for this" her mother's fake smile as the nin had carried her away... the clouds split and evaporated into nothing she chased after the trail they left for a second, total silence, not even the grass made noise as the wind blew through it, _

"_Kin-chan... it'll all be over soon" the snake sannin stood in the grass, his hair blowing in front of his face hiding those piercing eyes. She turned to run but found trees surrounding her... the forest of death, a snake came crashing through a tree trunk straight at her, dream heavy limbs stopped her from dodging, just before the snake made contact a boy cloaked in scarlet mist which took the form of a fox burst from the bracken and attacked the snake. He threw the snake into a tree and she watched the red mist leave, Naruto stood there... he walked toward her with a smile, a look of horror struck her face as the snake once again reared up. She screamed a warning but no noise came, her limbs didn't obey her she watch the snake swallow him whole. Slamming a fist on the floor she dropped her head to the floor and suddenly it felt solid, she looked up to see Orochimaru smiling. She was in his lair kneeling before him_

"_It's time for the sacrifice kin-chan" she tried to step backwards only to hit a wall, she looked above her only to realise she was in a box, only the front was missing... she made a move to step out when the lid started to slip over the exit. She suddenly realised it was a coffin and furiously beat the lid until the last glimpse of sunlight faded and she collapsed on the floor in a heap, holding her knees crying_

_-flash back end-_

The decision was obvious... she couldn't tell him about the dream without revealing something about her involvement with Orochimaru... it wasn't an option. At least, not yet.

"It was nothing Naruto... just about a fight I had in the forest" she gave a fake smile and watched the concern wash off his face,

"Okay, well I'm going to go wash up. Won't be a minute, then we can go to Ichiraku for breakfast"

"the ramen stand?" she laughed at the idea of ramen from breakfast

OoOoO

The pair stood outside of the Ichiraku, Naruto with a wide smile and kin with a look of slight confusion...

"I thought you were joking..."

"I never joke about ramen" she sighed and walked toward the shop to find the metal guard was lowered over the counter

"it's closed" she turned around to see the blonde heading for the back entrance and quickly grabbed his shoulder to stop him

"woahhh! Is that alright? Just to walk in?" he laughed and wiped her arm off his sleeve and opened the door

"Morning!"

"Naruto-kun! Good morning, we're almost done here, did you bring your friend?"

"Hai, she's here" Naruto stepped into the shop pulling Kin behind him, kicking his shoes off casually and then stepping through into the serving area and pulled up the metal blind.

"So you help them set up in the morning?"

"Yeah, they wanted to make sure I ate right so they make me come here every morning" she rolled her eyes and watched him carry two stools outside to the seating area grabbing his shoes again, she grabbed the other stool and followed him. Sitting down Naruto grabbed a pair of chopsticks and handed a pair to Kin.

"How long have you been coming here for breakfast?"

"about two or three months" as he spoke the man from the previous night walked out with two plates of food and placed them in front of the two before serving the man who had sat next to Naruto. When the man spoke Naruto snapped his head around to look at the man

"Pervy Hermit!"

"Oh jeez this kid..." the man slapped his palm across his face

"Look kid, don't call me that in public" kin eyed the man suspiciously... a pervert? This couldn't be good, she... recognised him? Yeah... he was... the one from the springs. Kin tilted her head slightly at the man, he helped make the seal... does that mean he knew the forth? He certainly didn't look that impressive, Jiraiya caught her gaze and seemed to read her thoughts

"Don't you tell him about what I did"

"What? You didn't do anything pervy did you!" the man raised his palms in defence after catching a glare from Ayame

"Jeez kid, calm down with the pervert talk!"

"No, he didn't. Don't worry" she narrowed her eyes slightly, why did this guy want her to keep quiet about the seal?

OoOoO

A bush shook slightly, Kin jumped to face its direction kunai drawn fear apparent on her face... how did it come to this? Not minutes before her and Naruto were walking through a training field and now she was running for her life... she was ripped from her line of thought as the bush shook again and a kunai shot out, thinking quickly she dropped to one knee and let the knife slide over her head then kicked off from the ground, leaping into the trees to put as much distance between herself and the assailant , a few quick turns later and she was breathing heavily in a large bush. Running a hand down to her kunai pouch she checked her inventory... 15 kunai... 30 shuriken... 5 paper bombs and 20 yards of wire and of course her senbon... a few more yards of wire would be ideal. But this would have to do.

OoOoO

Soon she was running through the forest again, a kunai slipped past her thudding into the dirt in front of her, she cursed and skidded to a stop when she noticed the paper bomb trailing behind. Bringing her chakra to her arms she shielded most of the damage and used the explosion to create a distance between the two once again. That was when she noticed the ninja wire wrapped around her wrist, a quick manoeuvre later and she was replaced with a log, which was quickly thudded by a kunai attacking just where her sleeve was, who ever this was wanted her alive. She was beginning to feel the effects of chakra exhaustion, her limbs got heavy and her jumps left her trailing. She had to end this soon...

Landing in a clearing she turned around and took up a defensive stance holding a kunai with both hands, the man landed in front of her. Not a word was said as they squared off, the man suddenly burst into smoke and she felt a rough hand run around her waist

'_shadow clone! Damn it!' _ she twisted out of his grip and brought the kunai down into his guard making him jump back, she needed distance if she was going to stand a chance, loosing the kunai from her hand it thudded in front of him making him take a further step back. A smirk spread his features and he dashed forward, leaping into a tackle her took her to the floor, kneeling on both her arms he noticed she wasn't scared at all. There was no emotion at all, his eyes widened and he jumped backwards, only to late. A shuriken with wire trailing behind it had already wrapped around his neck. He smiled as the girl melted into leaves

"gen-jutsu... nice one"

"thanks", she stepped from the nearby bushes and picked up the kunai, untying the bell

"but what am I going to do with you?" she cracked a grin and cut the wire, the man stood up and smiled back, he pulled the wire over his head and shook his blonde hair

"fine, you win, today dinner is on me"

"good boy" she then turned and began walking toward the city, Naruto quickly followed

Unknown to both a lone ninja had observed the exchange from the beginning ...

'_so this is the vessel I've heard so much about... the girl seems like nothing special, seems to be a long range fighter, fond of gen-jutsu. No higher than genin... but that boy has potential, a Jounin level technique, without a hand seal. And he didn't even seem fazed by the chakra it took...'_ a small gust took brushed past and he disappeared into the leaves.

OoOoO

The walk back to the apartment was short and pleasant, Kin had never felt so at ease... everything seemed to be going well, only she had a month to live and her team mates were actively seeking her out. She rolled her eyes at the sudden change in mood and glanced at the blonde beside her... suddenly she had the urge to... be closer? She blushed at the idea but decided to close the gap between them slightly.

She slowly walked a bit closer to him until her hand brushed his, he flinched from the contact and drew his hand back,

"gomen Kin-chan" she grinned sheepishly, he then placed both hands in his pockets, of course... why would he want to hold my hand? She sighed suddenly downcast, noticing this Naruto tried to piece together what happened.. he loosly let his hand drop until it brushed hers again, he flushed from the contact, looking at her face which now had a small smile, he felt a grin tug at his lips and he opened the apartment door

"can I get you anything Kin-chan?"

"no thanks..."

"sure?"

"yeah, don't worry" she slumped on the couch and kicked off her shoes, peeling off her jacket to reveal a loose tank top. Naruto sat next to her and put his feet on the coffee table, she copied. A few minutes passed before either spoke

"do you trust me?" the question caught him off guard

"huh?"

"do you trust me?" the urgency on her voice made her seem desperate, he turned to look at her, her hair had fallen around her shoulders... her hands were between her legs, she looked nervous with her hair covering her face

"hai... of course I do, I wouldn't let you stay here if I didn't" her shoulder slumped

"O-oh... so if I gave you reason not to trust me... you'd kick me out?"

"that's not really what I meant... why is there something I should know?" a few seconds passed while she thought about it in her head

"no..."

"Kin... whatever it is, I promise I won't kick you out..." she sighed

"we all have secrets... I told you mine, I don't expect the same back.. but it's probably nothing compared to me" he smiled, she threw a fake smile back,

"hai"

Inside the confusion was eating at her... what was she going to do... betray Orochimaru? That would be stupid... there's no way she would survive but there might be a way that Naruto could, damn it... should she talk to the Hokage? And say what... Orochimaru, the head of Otogakure is planning an attack? Then she'd be arrested... tell Naruto? Would he ever trust her again? Her mind told her he would... but something was stopping her, why was she suddenly so apprehensive?

She awoke with a start, it was the middle of the night, she found herself under the covers in Naruto's bed, she pulled herself out and stepped onto the cold floor, taking a slight breath from the temperature change she walked into the living room and sat on the coffee table watching the blonde asleep on the couch, why was it he was so calming? What was this affect he had on her... suddenly he became restless, tossing and turning, pushing at the blankets and scratching at his ears

OoOoO

"What are you doing fox?"

"**nothing to concern you kit"**

"tell me" the fox bellowed

"**if you must know I'm trying to figure out the sound chick"**

"what? Kin?"

"**yeah, I don't trust her"** Naruto sighed

"you don't trust anyone though" the fox bellowed and ran his long claws against the bars

"**she's involved with Orochimaru! His stink is all over her"**

"involved with as in..." Naruto gestured to the fox with his pinky finger, he rolled his eyes

"**no. I mean she works for him"**

"you're wrong. She wouldn't"

"**I'm not wrong kit. You'll see that soon, then you'll see you can't trust anyone but me." **the fox then receded into the shadows only his laugh echoed around the mindscape

OoOoO

Kin gently placed both of her hands over his in an attempt to calm him down, she lightly pressed her lips to his knuckles and watched the stress wash away, the sudden look of satisfaction on his face made her blush... maybe she did help, maybe it was something to do with the Kyuubi? She mentally laughed at the idea of her stopping the Kyuubi with a kiss. Running a thumb down his wrist she felt content, I don't want to go to bed...

Another smile graced her features when she heard him purr slightly as she passed a hand over his yellow spikes, what an odd kid

"I'll tell you tomorrow... I promise" she layed her lips lightly against his forehead again

"please don't hate me" she silently begged, before walking slowly back into the bedroom glancing back every few steps almost wishing to see his piercing blue eyes stare back

OoOoO

**More next time kiddies!**


	10. Chapter 10

Kakashi stared at the scene in front of him with wide eyes, this... had to be a coincidence... it had to be, he brought a hand up to his face to hide the tremble in his lip as the memories welled up.

"Kakashi-san, it is your mission, you and your team's mission to find the attacker. Is that understood?" the old Hokage stood in the door frame carefully eyeing up Kakashi's reaction.

"hai sir" quickly the Jounin brushed past the elderly man and into the street, leaving the horrific scene behind.

The old man sighed... he had also seen the similarities between the two attacks, turning back to the scene he looked over the woman hanging from the ceiling by a noose and drew his eye brows together, bringing 2 fingers to his face and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Do we have an identity of the victim yet?" the Hokage asked quietly, two men on the other side of the room looked up

"Iwate Sato, unmarried, no children, an assistant in a local restaurant, 25 years ol-"

"What?" the old man turned to face the medic ninja

"Her name was Iwate Sato"

"No I mean she wasn't a ninja?" the man glanced at the file again

"No, she never has been according to the records" the old man pinched the bridge of his nose again.. Why would someone attack a citizen... a ninja was understandable, but a civilian? Something wasn't right here

The old man looked at the face of the woman again, her peaceful expression was haunting, the only thing out of place was the small tear drawn on her cheek in blood,

'_Just like before'_ the old man shook his head and walked out the door.

OoOoO

Naruto lay on the couch, his chest gently rising and falling, a slight itch in his cheek made him bring a hand up to scratch it, lightly yawning he stooped his legs over the sides and rested them on the coffee table. Still scratching his cheek he stood up slowly and walked toward the kitchen only to notice a shadow pass by his window.

A few seconds passed then the someone knocked on his door, he glanced at the clock. 8:00 am? Who would be here at 8am? He opened the door to see a pink haired girl standing in front of him, both arms behind her back

"Sakura.. what can I do for you?" he yawned again

"Kakashi sensei says he has a mission for us" she glanced into the apartment to see the sheet on the couch,

"are you sleeping on your sofa?" she raised an eyebrow

"yeah, why?"

"why aren't you sleeping in your bed?" she felt her mood drop slightly when she sensed the coldness of his tone... he obviously wasn't happy with her still.

"because Kin's using it, she has to sleep somewhere" Sakura looked dumbstruck, an enemy ninja? In his home?

"B-but, she's... Otogakure?" she mumbled slowly

"shes my friend" he quickly shut the door and walked back over to the kitchen. I'll run over to old man Hokages to get the information on the mission then meet with Kakashi... grinning slightly he ran the tap and cupped some water, splashing it over his face. A creak in the floor board alerted him to kin behind him.

"morning" she grunted in response, Naruto cracked another grin

'_obviously not a morning person'_

"Kin, I have a mission today, so I'm going out for a while, will you be okay for the day?" again she grunted in response while walking back towards Naruto's bedroom holding a box of cereal and a spoon.

OoOoO

Naruto landed at the usual meeting spot of his team, both Sakura and Sasuke were there already, accompanied by surprisingly Kakashi.

"Your late Naruto." His tone held a slight hint of anger,

"You're always late Kakashi sensei." He raised an eyebrow at the copynin

"So why are you here on time?" both Sakura and Sasuke gazed at the man waiting his response

"This mission is important. A C rank." The three shared a look of confusion. A C rank was nothing to get excited about, they'd had plenty...

"Kakashi, what's this really about?" the Uchiha had recently dropped the 'sensei' suffix which slightly annoyed the older nin, though it didn't show on his face, the lack of respect was deeply worrying to Kakashi... if this continued it could lead to some real issues,

"Its about a murder" the three nins looked at each other once again

"of course it'll be just Naruto Sakura and myself on this mission... Sasuke, you have to go and train for the finals" Sasuke smirked and stalked off toward a training ground leaving the 3 behind without so much as a word. Kakashi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Would they ever get a long?

"come on you two, we're going to check the scene." With that the Jounin sped off toward the city

A few minutes later

"Kakashi, I can assure you that there's nothing that we medic nins missed, this is our full time job. Don't worry, here's the file. Look over it and start your investigation from there" the man thrust a file into Kakashi's hand as the two younger nin landed a few foot behind.

"Kakashi? Where are you going? The scene is in there isn't it?" the blonde pointed through the police tape and into the unlit room

"theres nothing in there that we could learn, that the medics have already told me" the man made a gesture for the two to follow him as he turned into a small restaurant, when they took a seat Kakashi took a quick glance over the file and the pictures at the back... a crime of passion... probably an ex lover, boyfriend or stalker. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair as he turned the file toward the other two who gasped at the image of the woman.

"What's that on her cheek?" Sakura brought the photo up and squinted at the image

"A tear, drawn in blood" Kakashi spoke as if it was nothing

"It's the sign of a serial killer" a sigh escaped his lips as the memories once again began to swim in his head, this didn't go unmissed by either student who stared at him blankly... Kakashi? Expressing emotion?

"Did they do something to you Kakashi?" Naruto asked without thinking, a small flinch spoke volumes to the 2... what ever happened had obviously affected Kakashi deeply.

"No, they didn't" the man lied as he stood up and left, leaving his wallet on the table

OoOoO

Naruto swung open the door to his apartment and stumbled forward slowly to see kin with her feet up on the coffee table

"Good day?" she spoke without looking away from the tv

"Was alright I guess"

"What happened?" she pulled her eyes from the tv as she felt the change in Naruto's character, that morning he'd been so... alive, yet now, he was, not empty. But, well something felt off...

"Oh nothing, new mission, catch a killer" she raised an eyebrow

"Shouldn't be too hard, especially with that Jounin helping out" the boy sighed

"That's just it, Kakashi has been trying to catch this guy for years... that's why we got the mission" Kin opened her mouth to respond but found herself silent for a few seconds

"... well... anyway I tidied up a bit while you were gone" Naruto glanced around the room as she spoke, it was tidier... he gave a grateful smile before slumping on the sofa, she followed suit and fell next to him

"I was bored all day..." she felt her cheeks heat up as she spoke "next time you have a mission try not to be out all day" she playfully pinched his thigh as he feigned pain

A few hours passed while the two watched TV, night fell and the two gently nodded their heads and fell asleep. The man who was stood on a roof top across from Naruto's bedroom could clearly see the two from his spot, he covered a smile and leapt away... this could wait till morning

OoOoO

"Kakashi-san!" the silver haired Jounin glanced over his shoulder at the sound of his name to see a chuunin running toward him... not just any chuunin, the one who guards Lord Hokages door... this must be important.

"What's going on?" the man showed an abnormal amount of curiosity in his voice as the chuunin doubled over grasping his knees breathing deeply from the run, a few seconds passed before his stood up and pulled out a sealed scroll holding out to Kakashi with a serious look in his eye. No words passed as he took the scroll, unsealing it quickly and began to read...

_Dear Kakashi, My old friend_, The silver haired jounins eye visibly widened at the words... this hand writing, It couldn't be... his eyes quickly searched the page to see at the bottom, a small red tear stain, The weeper...

_Dear Kakashi, My old friend._

_It seems I've done you a favour, one less killer in your city is a good thing no? I also don't take to well to people trying to impersonate m. That is why Iwate Sato had to die. Yes, she committed the murder in the motel, tried to pin the blame on me. The nerve of it huh? _

_Well I digress, she's been taken care of, she knew too much anyway. Make sure that you get placed on this mission, you know all too well that we have unfinished business._

_Yours forever _

The red stain marked the place where they would put their name... there's no mistaking it, the Weeper was here, taking out the trash it seemed. He sighed and nodded at the chuunin who disappeared quickly once again.

OoOoO

Kin groaned in her sleep and kicked out against the blankets to try and free herself of the warmth, only to hit something much harder than she expected, the quick shooting pain quickly woke her up. She sat up and rubbed her foot as she glanced around the room, this wasn't the bedroom... suddenly she caught a glimpse of yellow out the corner of her eye. Naruto. She stared bug eyed at him for a second, had they been asleep together? She felt her cheeks heat up at the thought of it and quickly silenced any perverted schemes that entered her mind. She stood up slowly and took a step toward the bedroom.

"Kin?" she looked behind her to see the two blue orbs staring back

"Naruto"

"What's wrong? What were you doing?" he shifted up onto his elbow and blinked the sleep out of his eyes

"I – nothing. Go back to sleep" she turned back toward the bedroom and began to walk

"Kin what are you hiding?" her eyes widened and she looked over her shoulder, his face was serious. He twisted his body until his legs fell off the couch and he motioned for her to sit as well, she nervously approached and sat down with both of her hands between her legs, letting her hair fall loosely around her shoulders to hide her eyes.

"Naruto... I, um... the Otokage... he's" she took a deep breath as a tear escaped her eye, as it rolled down her cheek she imagined how Naruto would react... surprisingly even to her, she wasn't even thinking about what Orochimaru would do to her.

"It's Orochimaru..." her voice was as quiet as a breath, but his wide eyes told her that he'd heard her. His stare faltered and he chose to look at the floor instead... a growing laughter echoed in his mind and a voice he'd not heard in days.

"**I told you boy... she can't be trusted, none of them can. You'd be better off without them"**

"No..." his voice was barely audible... Kin flinched at the aggression in it

"I'm sorry, N-naruto I wanted you to know" more tears flooded from her eyes as she stared into his

"**Don't listen to her, if she were sorry then she would have told you sooner"**

"Stop it" Naruto clutched his head in pain and realisation washed over Kin

"It's the fox isn't it? He's whispering to you! Don't listen!" she grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her

"Listen to me, you can trust me! I want to join the leaf!"

"**PAH! That's rich... coming from the traitorous bitch, she thinks you'll let her join your village after she kept this from you?"** the foxes laugh echoed in his ears

"Shut up" his void conveyed pain as if his mind were being torn in two,

"**Use my power. Destroy all those who are unworthy of your trust, the pink slut, the Uchiha, the white fangs son and of course that sound whore!" **Naruto's face twisted slightly as a vicious smile began to spread across his face, his body visibly slumped as the foxes chakra began to rush through the gate

"**FREE ME AND ALL OF MY POWER WILL BE YOURS!"** finding himself inside his mindscape battling the rushing water Naruto edged forward towards the gate with an arm stretched forward, before he touched the gate he felt something...

Warm

He opened his eyes to find himself in the apartment again... Kin was right in front of him, he could just see the top of her head... was she... kissing him? Her sudden gasp for air told him. His cheeks heated until they were a similar colour to hers, she sat next to him and brushed her sleeves against her eyes...

"I can be gone in the morning" the meaning of the words sunk in a few seconds later

"You're not going"

"What?"

"You just... saved me, from Kyuubi" her eyes widened... so it was Kyuubi, she felt a lump in her throat.

"What about Orochimaru?" the look in her eyes showed fear beyond all else

"We can see Lord Hokage tomorrow... he'll help us" she nodded and brought her feet onto the couch, resting her head against Naruto's arm.

"**You're stupid kid. She'll stab you in the back, it's the way humans advance, using the bodies of their friends as stairs"**

"Shut up fox" he spoke aloud and saw kin smile slightly at the words

-OoOoO-

Naruto woke up as three loud knocks came from the door, Kin lazily swung her legs off the side of the couch and sat up letting Naruto answer the knocks. Rubbing his eyes he swung the door open.

"Kakashi?"

"Naruto get dressed, we've got work to do" Naruto nodded silently and motioned for Kakashi to enter, the man stepped in and glanced around the room, taking note of the girl on the couch wearing fairly revealing Pyjamas

"Good morning Kin" he gave an eye smile as he walked toward the kitchen

"Yeah, morning" she watched curiously from the couch as the man entered their kitchen and mused through their stuff as if she weren't there

"What are you doing?" then man glanced at her

"Looking for some biscuits" she raised an eyebrow,

"Top self" he returned to the cupboard and pulled the pack out and motioned to her as if offering

"No thanks.. I'm good" he shrugged and sat on the couch next to her, holding the pack in one hand and silently eating with the other, she looked curiously at him, how was he eating with that mask?

"So kin, do you have any missions for this next month?" she shook her head

"Well seeing as how it's just me Naruto and Sakura we'll be needing an extra if you want to fill in" he casually bit another biscuit, as if not noticing the shock on her face

"You'd trust me to help you?"

"Of course, though we're leaving as soon as Naruto is ready. So you'd better hurry" a second later Kin dashed into the bedroom and slammed the door, throwing her clothes against the wall and pulling new ones on. She kicked open the door and landed in a heap on the kitchen floor

"Calm down, Naruto takes about 15 minutes to get ready in the mornings. Would you tell him to meet at the normal spot? Thanks" without another word the man disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving Kin to wait the next few minutes alone.

OoOoO

Naruto landed in the clearing that team seven gathered in before a mission, a few seconds later Kin landed next to him, both looked around to see neither Sakura or Kakashi.

"Where are they?" Kin stretched as she spoke, itching to get back into doing missions

"Kakashi is always late" his usual spirit seemed damper than normal, Kin stopped stretching and stared at the boy who was now sitting under a tree.

"what's going on with you and your team?" the concern laced her voice as she spoke, the boy only gave a fake smile and said it was nothing, she knew better...

"Come on Naruto. Tell me" she flicked his forehead he narrowed his eyes but did nothing.

20 minutes later Sakura walked into the clearing to an odd scene, Naruto sat under his usual tree, but that sound nin was with him, crouched in front and seemed to be flicking his head? She battled in her mind, stay silent or call out? It had been a few days since shed seen Naruto... the last time he'd seen her he'd called her Sakura instead of Sakura-chan... She grimaced at the memory, why did she even care?

"Good morning Naruto" Kin looked over her shoulder to the source of the voice, the pinkette?

"Morning Pinky" she called back unable to remember the girls name, turned back to the boy to assume her flicking on his head only to wish she hadn't. The boy in front of her suddenly looked a lot more out of place, like he was uncomfortable in his own skin. She sighed, this team was falling apart.

"It's Sakura, where's Kakashi? He said we had work to do" she glanced around the clearing to make sure she hadn't missed him.

"We don't know, he came by our apartment about half an hour ago or so, we've been here since" both girls glanced at Naruto who remained silent, Kin raised her hand and flicked him again,

"What's wrong knuckle head?" he flinched slightly when she made contact but made no other movement, both looked at each other. Sakura's was already feeling down in herself, but seeing as how Naruto was obviously still annoyed at her still stung more than it should, she sighed

"Kin... can I talk to him alone for a minute?" Naruto's eyes widened slightly at the suggestion, why did she want that? He mentally fought the urge to run and hide as Kin nodded and walked a few paces away.

"N-Naruto... I know you're still an-annoyed at me... But really, I'm so sorry" she looked at the blue eyes that seemed almost disinterested in what she was saying and felt like giving up. Until he spoke again

"Just don't treat Kin like an enemy again and we'll be fine" she nodded and gave a small smile before sitting down under the tree again and called Kin over, the three sat under the tree for a further 15 minutes before Kakashi appeared in the tree above them.

"Hey guys" all three heads spun to look at him,

"Not as late an normal, what's the occasion Kakashi-sensei" Naruto stood up and stretched out his legs while the Jounin walked down the tree bark.

"I was speaking to Hokage-sama regarding our mission, turns out our murder was a fake. Someone was trying to pin the blame for their murder on the serial killer, she used the weepers trademark killing style to try and shift the blame." All three faces in front of him nodded as he spoke

"How do you know it was a fake?" Sakura narrowed her eyes feeling like this was important

"The Weeper killed the actual murderer and left evidence to prove it. Our job now is to track the Weeper, all evidence we have gathered over the years points to the land of rivers as his home" all three faces again nodded and stood up

"So now we're headed to the land of rivers?" Naruto tightened his pack as he spoke

"No, tomorrow we're going to the land of rivers. Today we're working on team work" Sakura grimaced, she remembered the last time Kakashi had worked with them on team work, Sasuke and Naruto had been arguing so much that she'd had to knock Naruto out to keep Kakashi from finding them.

"Wait, is Kin coming with us tomorrow?" Sakura knew it sounded rude

"Yes, we need a three man squad, and as you know Sasuke is busy training with Anko and Ebisu" Kin smiled at the chance of going on a mission again, she glanced at Naruto to see he was smiling as well

Kakashi looked at each of the three faces in front of him and then poofed out of existence

"Shadow clone?" Kin's face dropped, she hadn't even noticed...

"Yeah, Kakashi is so lazy he uses them for everything, that's why his are so good" Naruto grinned and started to walk towards a bush, both girls looked at him for a second before following,

"How are we supposed to beat a Jounin?" Kin's voice was hushed as the three quietly stalked through the undergrowth looking for Kakashi.

"With team work" both Sakura and Naruto said together before a smile brushed both faces

"Teamwork?"

"Yeah, well me and Sakura distract him you'll go in for the finish, you're the only one he's not seen in action, so it'd be perfect" Sakura nodded at Naruto's plan and looked at Kin for her approval. Kin was torn, part of her was really glad that Naruto thought that she was powerful enough to deliver the finish to a Jounin, but part of her said she wasn't good enough...

"Kin, don't you dare think you're not good enough" she smiled,

"Hai, I'll put him in a gen-jutsu to finish" the three nodded and spaced out slightly in V formation, Naruto and Sakura either side of kin and slightly ahead.

-OoOoO-

Kakashi sat in a tree watching the trio of genin slip through the bushes beneath him, he'd been following them for about 20 minutes and had produced a shadow clone to go ahead, right now they were about 10 meters away from it, he smiled... now to see how good they were.

Naruto and Sakura dashed from the bushes with perfect timing to clash kunai with the clone whilst its hands were occupied kin threw a senbon that landed in front of the clone. Nothing happened for a few seconds, he suddenly felt curious, what was happening? Edging closer, attempting not to betray his cover he crawled through the bushes until he was less than 3 meters from the trio, his eyes widened... all three were wearing the same shoes?

He cursed under his breath, shadow clones under henge... what made him so stupid as to venture this close? Gen-Jutsu... A kunai pressed against his back

"Well done... you got me, a very subtle gen-jutsu Kin. I didn't even notice I was under a gen-jutsu until then" Kin stepped out from her hiding spot and smiled. Sakura lowered her kunai while Naruto dispelled his clones.

"You've proved it, you can get me. Now tomorrow I expect the same determination" he threw his wallet to Naruto who caught it with a smile

"Treat yourselves. I'll see you tomorrow, east gate and 8am. Dismissed" when he finished talking he glanced at Kin

"Welcome to the team" and disappeared into the leaves

-OoOoO-

The three genin walked to team sevens normal mission success restaurant and took a seat at their normal table, Naruto and Sakura in their normal seats, then Kin in Sasuke's. She looked at the other two nervously, hearing all of the stories about their old team made her feel like she was intruding. A few hours passed while Naruto and Sakura speculated as why Kakashi seemed to care so much about this mission, she found herself laughing a lot, which surprised her, she'd never been one to laugh, yet right now she felt happy. Maybe she could be happy here. All those thoughts were cut short by a wave... her eyes widened in fear, she felt her new found confidence collapse in on itself as the people she least wanted to see approached.

"Hey Kin! It's been a few days" the first walked over knocking over Naruto's drink

"We were getting worried" the seconds voice was rough, both wore sound headbands.

Sakura knew these two were only here to cause problems. Their smiles were hollow, and their voices held venom... especially for Kin.

"Hey sweetie, why don't you lose these losers and come with us" The one who called himself Zaku leaned on the table to meet Sakura's face,

"Lay off, we don't want trouble" Zaku raised his hands in defence as Naruto spoke

"I wasn't causing trouble" Dosu was laughing under his breath as the exchange continued

"We just want Kin" Dosu's voice was dangerous, cutting through her like a blade, his one eye was staring through her hypnotically making her stomach turn.

"Sod off" Dosu's eyes narrowed as he broke the stare to look at Naruto

"She's our team mate" Zaku backed up Dosu as the two threw killing intent at Naruto, who seemed un-phased.

"What's going on here?" Kakashi casually spoke as he stood behind the two sound nins, both flinched from the sudden voice

"Oh, nothing, we just saw Kin and thought we'd say Hi" Dosu gave an eye-smile and turned to wander off followed by Zaku who smiled harmlessly as he slipped by Kakashi.

"Are you okay?" Kin flinched when Naruto touched her arm, after blinking a few times she looked at his eyes... so deep...

"We need to speak to the Hokage" Kakashi carefully studied the girl, then looked at Naruto for his reaction, a flinch?

"Okay, let's go" both Kin and Naruto looked at Kakashi curiously

"Well, we're done here right?" he looked at Sakura who nodded and he then smiled at the two before lowering his voice

"I think those two sound nins are waiting for you" Kin felt herself squirm and silently thanked the Jounin for offering to accompany them to the Hokage.

OoOoO

**That was a longgggg chapter, Chapter 10 though =] A mile stone! I also just broke 30,000 words! Be happy for me please :D More on Friday**


	11. Chapter 11

**OH MY GOD, last chapter I didn't put in a 'LAST TIME!' how awful...**

**I will do this now!**

**THE TIME BEFORE LAST TIME!**

**Kin and Naruto got interrogated! Kakashi was there being all creepy and intense, and Kin being the little creeper she is, listened in on a convo between Kakashi and Ibiki to learn, what? Kakashi is too close to this case? After that her and Naruto went to do some training and got watched by some pervy lone ninja! OH and she had a bad dream... what else? OH fox was like 'Kin works for Orochimaru dude' and Naruto was like 'no wai' then kin was like 'Ill tell you I work for Orochimaru tomorrow' **

**LAST TIME!**

**Kin told Naruto that she works for Orochimaru! And he was like 'GROWL!' And fox was like GROWL! Then kin was like KISS and Naruto was like 'eh' and fox was like 'shit' BUT ALSO there was a serial killer! He got a name! The weeper, but a fake? Kakashi got a letter from the killer which was like 'I killed lolololol. Catch me if you can' so Kakashi was like 'need four man squad KIN you be joining' 'k' AND WE'RE BACK IN! Oh wait, we're going to Hokages now. Where Kin wants to tell him something!**

**OoOoO**

Kin looked worried as she thought over what Kakashi had said... the sound nins were waiting for her... does that mean they were following her? Waiting for her to be alone? She sighed as she felt the knot in her stomach tighten for the first time in a few days.

"Kin?" the voice brought her back from the depressive state

"We're going to see the Hokage" she nodded and took off toward the tower without a word

"What's wrong with her?" concern laced his voice as he stared after the girl who was slowly leaping out of sight

"It seems her team mates have it in for her" Naruto threw a glance at Kakashi who also leaped toward the tower.

"You'd better go after them Naruto" without another word Naruto boosted his chakra to his legs and kicked off sending himself toward the tower, quickly catching up with Kin.

Sakura stood in the field and suddenly felt lonely... less than a week ago Naruto would have killed to be alone with her, it hurt that he'd stopped that. It wasn't that she liked Naruto, she tried to justify her feelings to herself as she headed home to pack for the new mission.

As she turned to leave she suddenly felt a pair of eyes boring into her... she glanced over her shoulder to see a man standing in the centre of the training field... staring at her

OoOoO

When Naruto landed at the Hokage mansion he saw Kakashi was lying on a bench outside, he rolled off, landing on his feet and walked casually over to the guard and spoke in a hushed voice... a few seconds later the guard nodded and shunshinned (I really have NO idea how hats spelt =] ) away. he looked over his shoulder and smiled at Kin who seemed slightly out of breath from the 20 minutes full speed sprint.

"What is it that you need to talk to the Hokage about anyway?" he asked in a voice that showed more curiosity than normal for Kakashi.

"About the Otokage..." Kakashi failed to mask the surprise on his face for a second, before quickly regaining control and replacing his emotionless mask. Both genin noticed the momentary falter but didn't have time to ask about it as the gates slowly opened with three ANBU guards stood on the other side.

"We're here to escort you to lord Hokages Office" Naruto glanced over at Kakashi who only nodded in response and began to walk forward, This was odd... they'd never had an escort to Old Man Hokage before... what was going on?

The first of the ANBU opened the door to the Hokages office and led Kakashi inside, leaving the other two ANBU to guard Kin and Naruto.

"So... what's going on?" neither of the ANBU responded to the question directed at them, and just stared hard into the wood of the door, Naruto sighed and placed a hand on the door knob only to feel a hand wrap around his wrist... faster than he could register he was on his knees with a kunai held firmly against his throat, Kin stared at the impressive display but didn't make a move... she knew better then to try to help. It'd only make things worse if she did.

She was torn from her thoughts as the doors opened slowly to reveal the elderly man holding it open with Kakashi behind him, the other ANBU was nowhere in sight, but she knew that didn't mean he was gone... the Hokage sighed as he saw Naruto struggling against the much taller shinobi and gave a flick of his wrist, both ANBU nodded a the silent command and disappeared into the air. Leaving Naruto to fall backwards onto the floor.

"Come in now" the Hokage gently patted Kin on the back to hurry her into the office as Kakashi helped Naruto up. A few minutes passed where the Hokage only observed Kin's movements and her attitude... it seemed a lot different to the girl who had yelled at his a few days prior. She was a lot more cautious now, aware of herself and her surroundings. His eyes narrowed... this couldn't be good news.

"You have something to tell me young Diplomat?" Naruto felt himself grin at the nickname the Hokage had given her but suddenly knew this conversation was serious when Kin spoke

"Hai... It's about Orochimaru" Instinctively she prepared herself for a Hokage level beating but it never came... opening her eyes slightly she saw that the man hadn't moved an inch, but he looked over a hundred years older now.. his wrinkles much more defined and deep.

"Orochimaru?"

"Hai... I think, he might be..." she choked on her words.. she stood up and reached for her throat, Naruto quickly stood up but was pushed back into his seat by Kakashi, the face he had showed Naruto this was not a time to disobey, the Hokage stood from his desk and placed a hand on Kin's shoulder, looking deep into her eyes he spoke quietly.

"I think Orochimaru may have placed a seal on you to prevent you from revealing this information" she felt her eyes widen and she sat back down, the Hokage crouched next to her

"I can remove the seal if you wish, but it will probably hurt, do you want me to?" she nodded slowly, still without her voice. The Hokage nodded again at Kakashi who took Naruto into the hall

"Naruto... this is very important, you cannot disturb lord Hokage during this release, do you understand me? it could kill Kin if you do" Naruto sighed defeated and nodded before Kakashi re opened the door. Taking a seat where Kin could see him he smiled at her to show he wasn't nervous... if anyone could get the seal off it'd be the old man.

Kin felt the Hokage gently press a hand against her neck, it felt almost soothing... a calming aura came from it, searching her body... she let it through her defence...

"Good, you're doing well Kin" she nodded as much as he'd allow until she felt him reach her shoulder blade. A strong wave of pain flooded into her entire arm as she felt the Hokage's presence floating nearer to the source... she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, trying to remain calm... it felt like her entire arm was being scolded, she opened an eye at it to see there were no marks at all... it was all inside her head, but that didn't make it any less painful... there was only one way to end the pain.

To get the Hokage out. She began to struggle against his chakra, moaning lightly,

Naruto watched from the chair, being held down by Kakashi's hand on his shoulder, he saw the fear behind Kin's eyes as she lashed out wildly, narrowly missing the old man. Kakashi didn't make any move to stop her however, he knew very well that the Hokage could handle her

After a few minutes of struggling the Hokage took his hand of her neck only to place it on top of the seal, which was now beginning to show on her shoulder, having found her voice again Kin screamed out in pain as the note drifted closer to the surface, Naruto cringed and with a sudden burst of strength pushed Kakashi aside and ran to Kin's side, placing his hand within hers,

Kin spun head instantly to see who it was... her features relaxed when she saw the blue orbs, letting her muscles relax as Naruto placed his other hand on her arm gently massaging it to relieve the obvious pain, she let her eyes roll around the room in an attempt to focus on anything but the pain...

Kakashi stood in a corner and watched with a smirk under his mask... It wasn't every girl that Naruto was willing to disobey a direct order for.

Suddenly the pain was gone. Kin glanced at the Hokage who was now turned away and tried to speak...

"What's going on?" the old man leaned heavily on his chair as he sat back down and let out a long sigh

"That took a lot more energy than I had hoped..." he lowered his hat as he spoke

"Can I tell you about his plans now?" the old man nodded and Kin took a deep breath

OoOoO

Naruto stood in the corner of the Hokages office resting his head against the window staring out into the night, the street lamps of Konoha were never top notch... the constant flickering of them was soothing though, watching them was almost like looking at the stars in the sky, he sighed... Konoha couldn't be destroyed... he looked over his shoulder at Kin, she was sitting in the same chair, but was now under a sleeping Jutsu, a member of the Yamanaka clan had come in to read her memories... anything which would help ready the village for the attack, joint sand and sound? This was going to be a blood bath... But Kin had given them the advantage, maybe things wouldn't be as bad now. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see one of the last people he expected

"Pervy sage?" the Hokage laughed at the nickname that Naruto had so fittingly given the sannin,

"I told you not to call me that kid" he smiled and placed his hand on Naruto's blonde hair affectionately ruffling it.

"You should be proud of your girlfriend kid" he looked over his shoulder at the girl in the chair

"She's not my girlfriend..." the sannin laughed

"Maybe not yet kid, but you two got a connection, she's been through a lot tonight. Look after her on that mission tomorrow" the blonde nodded silently as the Yamanaka withdrew his hand from Kin's head,

"I have as much information as we're going to gather from her" the Hokage nodded and released the Jutsu allowing Kin to slump forward and wake up, her head shot back up and she instantly looked around the room, seeing Naruto by the window she tried to pick herself up only for her leg to shake wildly and collapse under her, before she hit the ground the Yamanaka grabbed her arm

"Careful kid, having your mind probed isn't easy on your body, give it an hour or so" gently easing her back into the chair he bowed to the Hokage and left the room, followed by Jiraiya and Kakashi.

"Your mission tomorrow will proceed as planned Naruto, take care of her, I don't doubt that Orochimaru is aware of the seal breaking... we should be aware he might be coming for her" Naruto felt his stomach tighten at the thought...

OoOoO

Inside the seal the fox felt the knot tighten in Naruto's stomach at the mention of Orochimaru... This could work to his advantage, he grinned to himself and began piecing together a new plan... for this though, Kin may well have to die. Not that he cared.

OoOoO

Naruto found himself in the apartment once again,

"We're home" he whispered of his shoulder, fully aware that Kin was already asleep on his back, he smiled and gently lowered her onto the bed. Her arms wrapped around his neck tighter as he tried to pull away... this would be tricky, he grinned as he began to make the seals for substitution jutsu but sighed before he finished... all the smoke would wake her up. He pulled again, she held firm, only getting tighter when he tried to pull away... this was going to be a sleepless night, he could tell.

Awkwardly lying in the bed with Kin's arms wrapped around his neck he closed his eyes and tried to sleep, his deep blush made his face heat up to the point where he could looked like a blonde tomato, this is ridiculous... I should wake her up, he thought to himself, but he knew he wouldn't, she looked so peaceful, long hair running down her back her mouth slightly open as her back gently raised and fell with her breathing... staring at her sleeping form he suddenly felt relaxed himself... maybe he would sleep after all.

OoOoO

Kakashi dragged his heels as he approached the door to his apartment, it'd been almost 24 hours since he'd slept, getting up early to see the Hokage... and then stayed awake all night to listen to the Yamanaka's briefing on the joint Sand/Sound Invasion... He yawned as he heard the lock click and pushed the door open, he flinched as the door opened... as he always did, his old team photo was on the wall directly opposite the door... Rin, Obito... Minato, he closed the door behind him and walked through into his bedroom, glancing at the clock he let out a low growl...

6:45

He was meeting Team seven at 8:00 to leave for the land of rivers, usually he would have gotten into bed anyway... but a memory that stung in his mind forced him to lurch his way toward his dresser and pack for the mission.

OoOoO

Kin was happily snoozing with some warm thing when the alarm clock started going off, Naruto usually came in and turned it off because she couldn't be bothered to... this morning should be no different, she yawned and buried her face into the warm thing further, she was slightly annoyed when she felt it trying to escape. Opening one of her eyes she saw a bright orange jumpsuit and immediately the pieces fell together, she kicked the blonde out of the bed and quickly threw the nearest thing she could reach at him

Naruto was more than surprised when he found himself flying through the air and an alarm clock colliding with his head, he hit the floor and grabbed his growing bump, throwing a glare at Kin who was wrapping herself into the covers and glaring back

"What did you do that for?" Naruto yelled picking up the clock and taking a step forward, her response made him stop... she looked scared, different from the girl he knew.

"D-don't take another step" he could see that she was terrified of him for some reason

"Kin what's wrong?" he dropped the clock and took another step forward, she moved backwards on the bed until she hit the wall clawing at the quilt to hide herself

"Leave me alone" she sobbed into the sheets... Naruto couldn't begin to understand what had happened...

"Kin, is this about last night? Are you worried about Orochimaru?" she shook her head a tiny amount, never taking her red eyes off him

"Well... what about that I slept in the same bed as you?" she narrowed her eyes slightly and nodded, he smiled

"Kin I didn't do anything, I tried to sleep on the couch, but you wouldn't let me, after I put you in the bed you kept grabbing me and pulling me onto the bed" she didn't move, her eyes stayed narrowed

"Why would I do that" he shrugged

"I have no idea, it was actually warmer than the couch though" Kin let her gaze drift onto the quilt... he was the warm thing, he was why she felt safe all night...

"Sorry I kicked you..."

"And threw a clock at me?" he laughed as he took another step toward the bed and slowly sat down, she nodded

"It's fine... I'd never hurt you, you know that don't you?" her eyes searched the room but eventually she found herself staying into his eyes, she nodded again.

"Good... well anyway, we'd better start getting ready, we have to meet Kakashi-sensei and Sakura in an hour" he said as he examined the broken clock.

Kin was about to get out of the bed when she realised that she'd have to go back to the hotel if she wanted to pack... her head dropped, Naruto saw this

"What's wrong?"

"All my stuff is at the hotel"

"Oh... well, would new stuff be okay? I don't really want to see your team mates"

"I don't have money"

"I do" he smiled

"And I have nothing to spend it on, may as well get you some new stuff" kin fiddled with the quilt in her hand and sighed again

"Why are you so nice to me?" Naruto laughed at the question

"You're my friend" she nodded,

"But doesn't buying me a load of new stuff go past friendship?" she felt her cheeks heat up at what she was empliying, she nervously eyed the blonde to see any reaction... he didn't look embarrassed, just thoughtful

"Well, I haven't really had that many friends... so I don't know where to stop, but all I know is that if you need new stuff. I'm happy to pay for it" he smiled at her, she felt herself smile as well... damn that was contagious.

OoOoO

20 minutes later Naruto found himself in the female clothing section of a large store... and he felt uncomfortable.

"Kin... do I really have to stand here?"

"Yes. It's your punishment for fainting when I asked you if that bikini was to revealing" he sighed... that was hardly his fault... It was unfair. He was even beginning to attract glares from other women, even if he was under henge to look like Kiba,

"Kin, I think people are starting to see through the henge"

"No... it's because you're a boy in the girls area, chill" she threw a shirt over the pile he was holding and smiled

"I think that'll last me" he nodded slowly and tried to figure out how much it was going to cost... too many zeros...

The two approached the counter when a woman grabbed Naruto by the ear,

"Kiba! How many times have I told you about snooping in the women's department!" Naruto squealed as she hauled him off the ground and was about to throw him out a window when Kin spoke up

"He's with me!" the woman stopped half way through the throw and sent Naruto skidding across the floor, spreading the clothes across the floor. Kin bent over to pick them up when the woman approached her

"You know that boy is a pervert, I'd watch my back if I were you" Kin stifled a laugh as Naruto walked back over barely maintaining the henge

"I think Kiba has a reputation around here" he rubbed the bump on his head and growled... this was certainly not his day.

When the two walked out the shop Naruto was feeling significantly lighter as most of the money he was carrying was now gone, Kin had a new set of kunai, new shuriken, a roll of 20 explosive tags, a new set of senbon, as well as a Tanto. Kin had a large smile as she fastened the new weapon across her back in the same fashion as the ANBU, Naruto couldn't help but grin at the expression she had as they headed toward the meeting point.

OoOoO

As they rounded the last corner Naruto and Sakura just saw Kakashi touch down by the gate and Sakura stand up from her spot in the shade. Before Naruto could react Kin had began to run toward the two, he smiled at the girl and ran after her

"Sorry we're late!" Kakashi glanced at the two running toward them and smiled,

"It's fine, why were you late?"

"We were getting Kin new supplies" Kakashi's eyes ran over kin and noted the tanto on her back

"Do you know how to use that?" he gestured to the weapon on her back,

"Only a bit, we did a crash course in Oto..." Kakashi nodded

"Well that's standard ANBU weapon so I know how to use one, I'll teach you at some point" Kin's smile broadened

"Thank you Kakashi-sensei!" she bowed as Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortable with the addition of 'sensei' to his name

"Anyway.. Lets head out" he turned to look out of the gate and all three genin nodded in response

OoOoO

**More on Monday :D x**


	12. Chapter 12

**Last Time!**

**Kin told Hokage about Orochimaru's invasion! I personally think he'd be sincerely ticked at her for that, but does he even know they know? The Hokage seems to know that he knows they know... anyway, this time team seven PLUS temp Kin, are headed out to the land of rivers, to catch the weeper! But what will happen! **

**Let's find out.**

**OoOoO**

Kakashi looked over his shoulder to see the great wall that guarded Konoha sink into the trees and sighed

'W_e won't be seeing that wall for a long time... I just hope nothing happens while we're gone'_ he mentally chastised himself for laying a jinx before turning round to see three faces staring at him, looking at each in turn he continued his walk... Naruto looked like he had been waiting for this mission for a long time... then again he hadn't been outside the city wall since the mission to wave. Sakura looked misplaced, there was something that was bothering him about her... there was something not right, which he just wasn't picking up on... Kin, well she just seemed to be staring after Naruto at every chance she got, this was definitely going to be an odd trip

Naruto was thoroughly enjoying himself, breathing in deep the smells of the forest... it'd been too long since he'd walked along a dirt path, he couldn't wait to set up a tent, climb into the sleeping bag and listen to the sounds of the forest while he slept, light a fire and stare into the dancing flames like he did for so many hours on the way back from wave... he noticed with a pang that Sasuke wasn't there. Sure Sasuke wasn't the best team mate, but they had their moments, in wave Sasuke had sacrificed himself to save Naruto. He smiled to himself as he walked along the dirt path behind Kakashi.

Kin felt like they had been walking forever, glancing over her shoulder she grimaced when she realised the walls of the city were only just fading from view. She looked at the sun, it had only been about an hour and a half, she sighed. She always hated this part of the mission, the seemingly endless walking, finding small ways to entertain herself as she walked... she found herself staring at the back of Naruto's head again, she shook herself free of the spell he seemed to have over her for the third time...

'_This is bordering on obsession... you sleep with him and now you can't get him out your mind! God you're awful Kin...'_ she scoffed at herself as she stared at the floor stepping in the faint footsteps Naruto left in a vain attempt to pass time faster.

Suddenly several things seemed to happen at once, Kakashi's legs shook beneath him, Naruto produced 10 clones which immediately henged three into kin, three into Sakura and two into Kakashi. All of which scattered into the bush, along with the real Sakura Naruto and Kin... from their hiding place Naruto and Kin looked at the dirt path to realise Kakashi had fallen to the ground, he wasn't moving...

"What's going on?" no words were spoken as Sakura signed to Naruto from her spot on the other side of the path

"No idea, Kakashi's down I didn't see any attack though... can you sense anyone?" a few seconds passed where Sakura briefly closed her eyes and seemed to concentrate her chakra

"No. There's no one here but us, either that or they're higher Jounin" a sigh escaped Naruto's lips before Kin whispered in his ear

"What's going on?" he immediately remembered that she couldn't understand the Konoha signs

"Kakashi seems to have been attacked, we don't know where from or even what kind of attack, Sakura cant sense anyone which means either they're gone or they're masking their presence, only a higher Jounin should be able to do that" Kin nodded slowly and quietly dug in her pack to find the senbon, gently tapping the bell to let out an almost inaudible sound she grinned... this was the same technique she'd used against Kakashi... if it fooled him it should fool who ever had attacked them, after all Kakashi has a sharingan eye. Seeing the technique both Naruto and Sakura quickly dispelled it and Sakura immediately concentrated her chakra again... if anyone dispelled a genjutsu right now she'd be able to sense the chakra change, so they waited. And waited...

"What does that technique even do Kin?" he whispered under his breath, she smiled

"it invokes curiosity... anyone who falls under it will be unable to resist approaching the object lock the jutsu onto... in this case, Kakashi" Naruto stared at her wide eyed,

"Kakashi?" he hissed "why couldn't you lock it onto a tree or something!"

"Then it'd be too obvious that they were under gen jutsu... I had to pick something realistic" Naruto sighed and nodded at her logic...

A further half hour passed and nothing had happened, except a few apparently squirrels under the jutsu approached Kakashi before running on their way, Sakura sighed from her hiding spot

"Nothing's happening..." just as she finished signing deafening sound came from Kakashi, immediately on guard the three genin crouched low... this was it... the noise sounded again, Kin's eye brow twitched as Naruto's lip curled... Was Kakashi... snoring?

A few seconds passed where the three waited for the noise to sound again, it did. Naruto immediately stood up an evil smirk growing he crept up to the Jounin, Sakura eyed him carefully before taking notice of the seal Naruto had his hands in, her eyes widened in realisation... he wouldn't!

"Konohagakure Hidden Secret Taijutsu Technique, One Thousand Years of Death!" ... he would. Naruto quickly dived on his teacher with both hands poised to complete the technique before a foot firmly planted itself on his face keeping him at a distance, Kin stood in front of Naruto with her leg outstretched,

"Naruto! What were you thinking! Attacking a sleeping Jounin! Are you stupid! He'd destroy you before you got close!" Kin's eye brow was twitching more than ever as Kakashi sighed and began to pick himself up off the floor, clearly having been woken by Kin's shouting

"AND YOU!" she rounded on him

"You were having a nap! We've been hiding in the bushes for hours thinking there was an enemy around here!" Sakura stood up from her spot and grinned sheepishly at Kakashi who was trying to calm Kin down.

Yeah... this was going to be an odd trip.

OoOoO

The camp was made a few hours after 'the incident' as it was now referred to, two lean-to's had been sprung from large branches leaned against rock formations and then large camouflage pattern sheet's had been draped over the sides to create entrances. One was for the boys and the other was for the girls, between the two was a small fire placed in a ditch to prevent the light giving them away later in the night, everyone was hard at work, Naruto was chipping the bark off of the logs he'd collected earlier to make sure their fire didn't give off smoke, while Kin was tending to the pot of fish that was gently being heated over the fire Sakura had wondered into the forest to do her brief scan of the area using her sensory skill. Kakashi however was, under order of Kin, confined to his lean-to, unable to leave to make sure he got enough sleep to prevent the same 'incident' from reoccurring.

Kin glanced over her shoulder at Naruto for the third time in a few minutes... this time she caught his eye and cursed under her breath as she turned back quickly, hoping he didn't notice she was looking at him. Of course he did

"Kin? What's up?" she didn't respond, not trusting her voice she simply shook her head hoping it was enough, of course it wasn't.

"Come on, what is it" he slumped into the dirt beside her and crossed his legs staring at her through narrowed eyes, she quickly became uncomfortable under his gaze and felt her cheeks heating up... never had anyone given her this much of their attention

"Your heating up" this only caused her to blush harder as he placed his open palm over her forehead, she quickly brushed it away and stood up with an awkward laugh

"Naruto, it's nothing to worry about, just sitting to close to the fire, watch the pot will you, I'm just going to wash my face in the stream" before he could reply she dashed into the bushes and a few seconds later he heard her splashing in the river growling curses

"I wonder what that was about" Kakashi spoke sarcastically from the entrance of the lean-to only his head pointing out from the edge of the small structure, clearly afraid that kin could come back at any second

"What? You know what it is?"

"You don't?" Naruto raised an eye brow

"No, what is it?" Kakashi only smiled and made his way back into the lean-to before Kin caught him

"That's not fair Kakashi-sensei" Naruto growled under his breath and began to stir the pot.

OoOoO

The cool night breeze licked the fire casting a few embers onto the nearby dirt, grabbing a nearby stick Kin gently prodded the small listening to the quiet hiss as they died, she sighed and looked up into the sky, it'd been her shift for roughly an hour... only 2 more until Kakashi took over. She snorted quietly and glanced over to the boys lean to, a quiet purring was heard from inside, she had thought she'd heard purring earlier but now she was sure, Naruto was definitely odd, lying back in the dirt she stared at the clouds passing by over head trying to take her mind of the boy.

'W_hy is he on my mind so much?'_ she sighed at how obvious the answer was but still fought to find different one... there must be some reason, a quiet rustling and she was immediately on guard, seconds passed...

'_Only Sakura..._' she released her breath and retook her seat by the fire just as Sakura lifted the sheet covering the entrance of the lean to, she covered her mouth as she yawned and glanced in Kin's direction,

"Having trouble getting back to sleep?" Sakura only nodded and stumbled into the nearby bushes in the direction of the toilet they'd dug. When she was sure Sakura was gone she ran into the lean to and grabbed Sakura's bag, dragging it out of the makeshift shelter and hiding it behind a log... the plan was that Sakura would go back to sleep without realising it was gone, then she'd be free to search through it all night. Of course if Sakura did notice it was gone, there would be explaining to do, or if she was caught looking through...

There was no real reason why Kin felt the need to look through Sakura's things... just a feeling she'd had for a long time, Sakura was being far too quiet on the road, everything that was said between the two girls seemed heated. It was as if Sakura was annoyed at her, she wasn't even sure what she was looking for. She didn't even know Sakura that well, for all she knew the pink haired girl could be like this all the time... but there was something strange about it... when Sasuke had attacked them the two girls began to get closer, becoming ... dare she say, friends?

But suddenly on the mission something was off, Sakura was suddenly a lot quieter and suddenly didn't seem quite so useless in battle as she proved in the small spars they had had once the camp had been made.

As the thoughts rushed through Kin's head she barely noticed the other girl approaching the clearing only tilting her head slightly to acknowledge her as she sat down on the other side of the fire... silence reigned for a few minutes with neither kunoichi seeming to want to speak

"Shouldn't you try and sleep?" the pink haired girl raised her eyes to look into Kin's eyes, a few seconds passed before she nodded slightly and began to stand up again

"What's wrong with you today?"

"Nothing... why?"

"You've been so quiet"

"So?" Kin scoffed

"Fine. If you don't want to tell me, don't. But don't think I'm stupid" Sakura's lip curled up slightly and only nodded before heading back toward the lean-to.

Kin crossed her arms and stared hard into the flames for the next 20 minutes listening for any signs of movement inside the structure... a further 40 minutes passed before Kin judged it safe to retrieve the pack. She sat cross legged with the pack in her lap and her back to the lean-to, quietly unzipping the top she poured out the contents into the fire light... change of clothes, an egg timer, cutlery... does this girl even know how to seal? She was the only one carrying a pack come to think of it... she shook her head, with Sakura's control over chakra shed only assumed shed be good at using it. Finding nothing of interest she packed the items back into the pack in the same layout as shed found them placing the pack by the fire. More movement... she fell into her guard, hugging the log and casting a simple genjutsu over herself to hide from attackers...

'_only Kakashi...'_ she looked at the sky and gawped... it'd been roughly 3 hours since her shift started, Kakashi quietly walked out of the lean to and stretched, rolling an eye over kin he smiled at her face... how easily he'd seen through the genjutsu... she released the technique and sat up dragging the pack onto her shoulder as she stood,

"I'll see you in the morning Kakashi-sensei"

"What did you find?" she froze up... he knew what she'd done

"W-What?"

"In Sakura's pack... what did you find?" kin dropped her head in defeat and turned to face Kakashi and his undoubted anger, dropping the pack to the floor she raised her palms

"Okay, fine I was looking through the pack... and I didn't find anything" Kakashi's expression was definitely not what she was expecting... worry

"What's wrong Kakashi? Is it to do with Sakura?" the man quickly rebuilt his mask and smiled,

"Nothing, don't worry Kin, get to sleep" she sighed as she knew she wouldn't get anything out of him now.

Kakashi sat by the fire and pulled his book out, skimming over the familiar lines his mind began to wander...

OoOoO

"Kakashi sensei... Are we nearly there yet?" Kin's eyebrow twitched wildly as the question left the blondes mouth

"Shut up Naruto! You've asked him that 20 times now!"

"And every time he's not answered!" the blond narrowed his eyes and stared into the back of the silver Jounin head

"Shut up both of you. Don't make me turn around" a smile laced his voice as Sakura smirked at the situation.

"Sorry Kakashi sensei..."

...

"Hey Kakashi sensei, are we nearly there yet?"

"Oh my God Naruto!" kin channelled chakra to her legs and used a quick burst of speed to catch Naruto off guard

"We're here" Kakashi's voice tripped Kin as she skipped through the air tumbling into Naruto, both hit the floor in a heap

"What are you two doing? We're nearly there" Naruto's eyes narrowed dangerously as he stood up offering kin a hand which she clung to even after standing up, not going unmissed by wither Kakashi or Sakura.

"So you two are getting closer huh?" Kakashi's voice thundered into the pair and both genin blushed letting go of each other while swiftly moving to other sides of the path,

"W-what? Closer with him? Ha!" Naruto stuck his lip out playfully while Kakashi smirked at kin who was mumbling apologies whilst hiding her blush.

'_I know a certain snake user who would love to tease this pair...'_

Meanwhile in Konoha Anko and Ebisu were talking about how overused that sneezing joke is

OoOoO

"Okay... now listen, before we get into the town I have to say that under NO circumstances should anyone use any jutsu while we're in this town... also keep your headbands hidden. We are here to find a murderer who may well know we're after him. We have to blend in..." his stern expression spoke volumes to the trio... this mission was defiantly very important to Kakashi

"Hai..." they quickly striped off their ninja gear and sealed into scrolls while Sakura simply packed hers into her pack... not to go unmissed by Kakashi

"Sakura... why are you carrying all of your stuff?"

"O-oh... It's training, you know, extra weight" she sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck and laughed awkwardly... Kakashi only shrugged and turned toward the other genin who were rolling up their scrolls and pushing them into their trouser pockets, Kin raised a suspicious eyebrow at Sakura explanation and searched her sensei's face for any sign he was having trouble believing her either only to find he seemed to accept it... Naruto didn't seem fazed by the explanation at all and was briefly wondering if he should try it as well

OoOoO

**That's it for today my lovelies, more on Friday =]**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey there! ProKidney here with my friend, ProLimeWedge (coincidence I swear.), and I'm here to say that my friend here will be making a reboot of this story! I know it was really popular so I hope you all check it out. I'd also like to take this opportunity to apologise for letting this story go. I had a good plan for it but just ran out of steam, Pro Lime will take care of you all now though! So I hope you all check out the reboot which can be found here:**

s/9722425/1/The-Sound-Hidden-in-the-Leaves

Thanks again guys, I hope you all enjoy it. =)


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